It's a strange demigods life
by orangesunset12
Summary: I don't have much time. Why am I even giving this story to you? That's for you to find out. My name is Halley Johnson. This is my story of being a demigod. Percy Jackson and the Olympians in this story. Percy/OC. Disclaimer cause I'm not bothered to put it in the chapters- I don't own Percy Jackson. ON HIATUS SORRY.
1. Chapter 1- Assaulted by a one-eyed man

It was night. The stars shone over my worn tent, illuminating my sleeping bag. I huddled close to the small fire. I know, it was silly to make a fire in a creepy forest, especially if you're like me. They can sense this from a mile away. But I was alone, scared, and cold, and the fire cheered me up a bit. You're probably wondering what I am talking about. Well, it all started on a fateful spring morning.

It was Saturday, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the sky was a brilliant blue. So what was I doing? I was sleeping in of course. Rule number one of my life: ALWAYS wake up after 12 pm on weekends. At least that what I did on typical days, and today was anything _but _typical.

"Halley! Get up before I throw you out the window!"

That would be my mom. She always said I should enjoy the world instead of sleeping. Well, if she'd seen _my_ world, she wouldn't be too thrilled of going out there either. I got up and changed, all the while fidgeting with my hair, clothes, hairclip, anything really. Stupid ADHD. I got downstairs and piled up on waffles. You see, I try to eat breakfast food any time of the day. Of course, it's not good for my 'physical health', but people like me have bigger worries than that. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My mom and I had a boring discussion about an emergency downtown. I really couldn't care less. Whenever I felt like this, I wished my dad was here. I couldn't ask my mom about it, because she _hates _him for leaving her with me alone. Not that she was a bad mother. She just had other things to do. Anyway, I was going to head to Sam's house. Sam was… unique? No, strange is more like it. He was my best friend, and he was always there for me. He was crippled, but sometimes I catch him chasing a weird girl with a slightly green face and believe me, that boy can _run! _I was so wrapped in my thoughts that I didn't hear a scream coming from my house.

I walked for about five minutes, when suddenly a man grabbed me. I screamed and thrashed but he had a solid grip. I looked under his hat and nearly screamed. He only had one eye in the middle of his head. I took in his appearance a bit more. He was abnormally large for a human, and had large hands. He was wearing a shirt that probably said something like WHAT'S UP? But my dyslexic eyes made out TASH'W PU? I was shaken out of my thoughts when suddenly he lunged at me. My body went on autopilot and I dodged, grabbing a shard of broken glass, and threw it directly into his eye. It dug deep into his iris, and he roared (**I don't know if other materials can damage the monsters**), clawing at his eyeball. I took this distraction as an exit, and ran down the alley, dodging mystified citizens with no desire to be pushed by a kid. I ran non-stop until I reached Sam's house.

"Hello?" I asked.

I stepped inside when suddenly I was tackled by Sam. He grinned.

"You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry, got caught up with…" Come on, it can't be this hard to lie! "Homework?"

He looked at me suspiciously.

"Well, come on, I made burritos!" He finally said.

We played and ate for a few hours, then I said goodbye, heading back home. At the front porch I stopped. I smelt something burning. Not serious fire, but burnt food. The door creaked as I pushed it open. I cautiously looked around, and then looked at the floor.

"AHHHH!"


	2. Chapter 2- Attacked by chickens?

**Anyway before I start on the chapter, I want to thank TheHolyMango for their nice comment. I'll try not to give up on this story!**

I stood above the body that used to be my mom. Her legs were twisted and her arms pointed in the wrong direction. Her head was cracked and bleeding.

"Who-who did this?"

Tears welled up in my eyes. I was _not _going to the orphanage. No. I turned and ran, running straight back to Sam's house. I barreled through the door and crashed into him.

"Oof! Get off me!"

I couldn't keep it in anymore, and started crying uncontrollably, tears rolling down my face.

"My-my mom's d-dead!" I sobbed.

He stood beside me, trying to comfort me. Then he stood up.

"I need to take you somewhere." He said.

I looked up at him suspiciously.

"Where?"

"To a camp."

A camp? My mind sped at a million miles an hour. Why would he want to take to a summer camp, of all places? I didn't have time to ponder on this, though, as the door suddenly came down. I screamed and stumbled back. In its place was a swarm of… chickens? No wait, they had human heads.

"Harpies!? Oh Styx..." Sam mumbled.

Thunder boomed, but I didn't pay that much attention because of the chicken-woman in front of me.

"Go to the back exit!" He screamed.

I took off running and sped through the kitchen, into the backyard. I faintly saw Sam next to me, yelling at me to run harder. My feet seemed to think on its own and I ran faster than ever. We reached a hill with white signs saying: 'PICK YOUR OWN STRABERRIES!' and stuff like that. We ran through the waist high grass, but just as we were halfway-

"Ouch!"

I looked back and saw Sam had tripped, and taken off his pants. I know, you're probably thinking, WHAT?! But when he took it off, it revealed two shaggy legs, and two hooves attached to it.

"AHH! DONKEY!"

I guess I overreacted a little.

"Bla-ha-ha. I'm half goat!"

I just gaped until he got attacked by the… Hippies! Wait no… Harries? Now that doesn't make sense…

"Help!"

I shook myself out of my daze.

"How do I kill them?" I yelled.

"Celestial bronze!"

What is celestial bronze? I looked around and my eyes rested on a bronze sword on the ground. I picked it up, and being the reckless person I was, I charged at the… Hammies? Why can't I remember their names!

I dodged the largest one and brought the sword down onto her neck. It disintegrated into golden dust. Unluckily for me, I accidently got some in my mouth and immediately coughed.

"Great." I muttered.

Then I struck at the next one, but it ducked and clawed my face. I worked through the pain and rolled underneath the second… _thing_ and shoved the sword into its stomach. Like the last one, it disintegrated. I charged at the last one, who was really slow and didn't react even when I struck the sword into its neck. It wailed painfully and disappeared with its other friends. I stood up, panting. Sam was lying on the ground, all clawed and bloody. His arm was bent at the wrong angle. It reminded me of my mom. I nearly burst into tears and ran to him.

"No, don't die on me, you're my best friend!" I whispered.

Through my tears I looked to my right and saw a valley with a big blue house. I dragged my unconscious half-donkey boy across the grass where I collapsed exhausted on the front porch. A boy with sea-green eyes and unruly black hair hovered above me.

"Chiron! We've got a new camper."

He smiled at me warmly.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Halley Johnson. What's yours?"

"I'm Percy Jackson."

**Okay, in this story Percy is 14. He completed 3 quests and 14 was the age in the prophecy. Annabeth is also 14 but doesn't have feelings for Percy, and Percy doesn't like Annabeth. They are still best friends, though.**


	3. Chapter 3- OMG YOURE A CENTAUR!

**Okay I forget to mention Its-Novel-mother fuckerz in the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing! And also thanks to lovethehungergames99 for adding me to your faves! Might as well add TheHolyMango in this thank you too.**

Percy led me down to the pavilion. He briefly described parts of the camp, although I was wondering if this was all a dream. I really hoped it was. I stopped in front of a man in a wheelchair, with a scruffy beard. His eyes twinkled with humor. At least, I hoped it was humor. Next to him was a short, chubby man who reeked of alcohol. His eyes narrowed when he saw me, and he sighed in frustration as if I was just some piece of trash.

"_Another_ one of those brats. Well, hello and all that, and welcome to Camp Half-blood."

I took that all in. It seemed normal, except for one thing. Camp _half-_blood? Was it a place for half aliens? Was it a camp for people who were half one country? Or were they just racist to pure bloods, because I was American, and I _seriously _do not want to be bullied because of that, maybe I should just leave-

"Halley?"

Percy was looking at me, concerned. I blushed because I realized they were talking to me.

"Um... What did you just say?"

"I said my name is Chiron, and this is the camp director, Mr. D." Chiron patiently repeated.

"Oh… I'm…" OH MY GOD I FORGOT MY NAME WAIT WHERE AM I WHY AM I HERE-

"Her name is Halley." Thank god for Percy coming to my rescue. I took deep breaths and cleared my thoughts.

"Um…Sir, why am I here?" I asked Chiron (what, who in their right mind would ask Mr. D something?).

"Ahh…"He started slowly, "That is always the question, isn't it. Well, I'll let Percy handle that. I'm here to tell you the basics. Well, you have passed the boundaries, so you are really a demigod-" A _what_? "-and you have defeated the Harpies. So I assume you know common Greek myths?"

This question surprised me. I half wasn't paying attention because he seemed to talk _on and on_ but my ears perked up at this.

"You mean like the gods, the monsters, the Underworld, the Fields of Punishment, that kind of stuff?" The Greeks were a _real_ happy bunch, weren't they?

"Yes. And what would you do if I told you this was real?"

I was going to laugh until I saw their serious faces.

"But… they're just myths!" I protested.

The chubby man- Mr. D- looked at me, annoyed.

"Demigods are so slow. I'm sure my father, the KING OF THE GODS, would not like to hear that."

His father was the king of the gods? Zeus and him? I racked my brain for pictures of Zeus, and they look nothing alike.

"So, you're Dionysus?" I asked.

Percy looked surprised, and I was afraid I guessed wrong, until he said-

"How did you guess so fast?" He asked me incredulously.

I snickered. Apparently someone wasn't as bright as he appeared.

"Well? Am I just a myth?" Dionysus asked.

I resisted the urge to say yes. After all, that would be bad for my first day, and I don't want to be a pile of ashes.

"So… If there are gods, what is a god doing in New York?"

Chiron seemed to contemplate how to answer.

"Well, you see, the gods move with the Heart of the West, otherwise known as the 'Western Civilization'-"

"What Chiron means to say is that the gods are here in America on the 600th floor of the Empire State building and that they move to places for some reason." Percy interrupted.

Well that helped dumb it up.

"But this will all be covered in the orientation film." Chiron stated.

He led me into the big farmhouse and into the living room. I sat on a blue bean bag chair and let myself relax. It was funny seeing Percy and Chiron try to set it up. When they finally did it, I was nearly asleep. They put the projector on and I made myself comfortable again and started to watch. It was actually pretty interesting. It showed a few pictures from each of the cabins and which cabin represented which god/goddess. It never really explained how you got sorted into a cabin. It only mentioned the major cabins, none of the other ones I briefly saw. The video also explained where Olympus was, and how it was there and stuff. I kind of zoned out at the end and was yawning by the time Chiron went and got the tape out.

"Well, that was… interesting?" I said.

Chiron chuckled and started to get out of his wheelchair.

"Wait, what-" I started to say, but was speechless.

He rose, putting four hooves that were attached to four horse legs that were attached to Chiron…

"Well, let's get going!" He said to me.


	4. Chapter 4- Here comes the sun

**Hiya people! I'd like to thank Thalia Di Angilo and TheAvidReader for their reviews. Your OC character is really good; I'll use her, although she might not be here for a few chapters.**

I can't really describe camp because it was so… magical. No, actually it was just because I was staring at the centaur like he was drunk and had started eating my hair. I guess he was kind of getting uncomfortable because he shipped me off with Percy to show me the cabins.

"Wow!" I said breathlessly.

The cabins were amazing! There were so many, and they were all unique. I walked in wonder, staring at each of them in turn. Percy stopped at Cabin Three. I absorbed its appearance. It was made of stone, set together like brick. Seashells, corals, and other things likely to be found in a beach were stuck on, like a collage. It was low and sturdy. I had a strange impression that I was underwater.

"This is my cabin. I live here alone except for my sister." He explained.

He showed me a few other cabins, most of which I liked, but I didn't like the one painted red with a boar's head. I felt really angry and nearly punched Percy in the face. At least he knew not to mess with me. We went to the pavilion, the armory (I was wondering why they needed that) and the arena.

"This is where we hold fights." He said.

Really? What kind of camp encouraged people fighting? Wait, if they believe in gods, maybe I'm in a mental institution camp. Then that means I'm crazy. Well, what else is new?

He took me back to the cabins and to the one that didn't look like much. It had the symbol of a caduceus on top of the door.

"This is the Hermes cabin. For Hermes' kids and undetermined campers. You'll be staying here for now, but before I do I want to explain why we're here."

I looked at him in confusion. I thought I was here because I was mental. Well, I suppose they shouldn't know that, but maybe they had an insanity sweeper or something?

"Look, you know Greek gods are real now, right? Well what if I told you we were related to them?"

Ok, these people are _definitely _insane. Related? To gods? I didn't even believe in them! I just played along, hoping to satisfy their insane needs. But this was just too far.

"NO way! You're kidding, right? I mean, related to _gods!_"

He looked at me with a serious and solemn face.

"Has anything ever happened to you before? Like something unexplainable?" He inquired.

Well… there was this incident where I saw this glowing red-eyed dog. It charged at me, but luckily my first grade teacher pulled me away, saying not to play with 'poodles'. Then there was another time… Okay, I just realized my life was really messed up. Percy saw me hesitating and used this to confirm his question.

"Have you done something to someone when you were angry?" He stared at me, sea-green meeting brown. I didn't want to tell him what happened that time…

_It was in primary. The kids were making fun of me AGAIN. I got kicked out of a lot of schools. They just didn't understand. Then suddenly one guy went up and said-_

"_I bet your dad ran off because you're such a loser."_

_That was it. I had had enough. I screamed and a bright white light flashed, leaving all the kids in the room unconscious except for me. The teachers saw and pointed at me. I burst into tears and ran out of the building, not caring whether the kids were actually unconscious, or… dead._

Percy was looking at me expectantly.

"Well… yes." I admitted.

He smiled triumphantly and said,

"That technically proved you're a demigod. Are you ADHD? Or dyslexic?"

My face flushed.

"It's not unusual!" I defended.

He laughed

"No, no… that's a sign that you're a demigod or half-blood. Your ADHD is your battlefield reflexes. Your dyslexia is how you read Ancient Greek."  
A demigod or a half-blood; what did that mean. Who needs battlefield reflexes? And why would I want to read Ancient Greek?

"What's a half-blood?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"It's when a god/goddess has children with a mortal."

A…half-god? That's what I am? At least this means I'm not crazy. But this is really far-fetched. Where's the evidence?When he said we were related to gods, I thought it was like a great-great-great grandpa or something. But this!

"Both my parents are dead." I stated firmly.

"But what happened?" He asked.

"My mom… I don't know. Something attacked her, I guess. My dad… he left, but my mom said he was loving, so if he loved me he would be back, right? So he's also dead."

Percy shook his head.

"Your father's a god, Halley." He said gently. "Just accept it."

Seriously I just… can't accept that all these things that happened to me were because of a god that was my father. I told Percy I was tired and went into the Hermes cabin, curling up on the bed. I napped for a few hours, waking up before dinner. Since it was my first day I didn't have any activities to do. So I waited until dinner and the Hermes cabin filed in. I just barely had enough space but it was still comfortable. I loaded up my plate with steak and spring rolls. I realized that everyone was putting food in the fire. Weird… I followed anyway and when it was my turn I sacrificed a spring roll. I caught the scent of the smoke and it smelled… godly. Like beef mixed with strawberries and apple pie. I smelled it again before going back to my table to eat. At the camp fire apparently I was supposed to get claimed now. We sang silly songs lead by the Apollo cabin and the campfire roared and was bright red. Then, right before it was time for bed, a bright light appeared over my head. I looked up to see a miniature sun. The Apollo campers grinned at me. Chiron announced in a loud voice,

"All Hail Halley Johnson, Daughter of Apollo!"

And just like that I was whisked to the Apollo cabin. The cabin members were fun and friendly, and I stayed up a bit chatting. Then I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up hot. Like really, really hot. I wondered if I had a fever. My eyes were still blurred from sleeping, and my brain was fuzzy, so I didn't see the flames licking the walls of the cabin, or hear the screams of the Apollo campers outside. Too late I realized that the cabin was burning down. I couldn't get out, so I used my last resort. I shut my eyes and created a blast of light. Unfortunately, it threw me out of the cabin, exploding. I sailed through the air, and the last picture I saw before blackness was a huge fire, burning Camp Half-Blood to ashes.


	5. Chapter 5- Meet Clara Annaliese Gray

**Hello my faithful readers! Here's a new chappie; sorry about the previous cliffhanger!**

Cold.

That's all I feel.

Cold.

All around me is white. So white it's driving me crazy. It's like being blind in the sun. You know if you see it you'll turn blind, but there's this longing to see the bright fiery ball of gas in the air. I turn back to the only thing I could feel now. Cold. Was this death? I shouldn't be able to feel anything then.

Cold. _Help me…_

I sat up with a start. My head felt like it was on fire. Well, it nearly was. I gently touched the back of my head. I felt a warm sticky substance running down my hand; blood. I felt woozy and lay down again. I looked around. I had landed in a tropical jungle, with colorful birds chirping around me. Usually I liked this type of environment, but every sound was like a dagger in the head. And that hurt a _lot_. I saw a rock beneath me. I must have hit my head on that. Damn, that rock was strong! I looked down at my body. Not too badly injured, at least. But my head was the most fragile part of my body. My vision started to blur as I heard a snap of twigs. I heard someone asking me something before I blacked out.

"Are you okay?"

A voice. A girl's voice. I tried to sit up but was pushed down again. I looked up and saw a girl, maybe 11, looking at me. She looked similar to Percy, except, of course, she was female. Her eyes were a sea-green, with flecks of turquoise and pink, making it look like a calm ocean. Her caramel hair was in tight bouncy curls. She wore denim shorts, a green blouse, black converses, and a jean jacket with the sleeves cut off. She also wore a strange shark-tooth necklace around her neck.

"My name's Clara. Clara Gray." She introduced herself.

"I-I'm Halley Johnson." I stuttered.

She smiled. _She looks so much like Percy, _I thought, _she might be his sister._

"How did you get here?" I asked her.

"I have a teleportation ring. How did _you _get here?"

"I-I um…" How do I say I made an exploding flash of light in my burning cabin that launched me all the way here?

"I ran…?" Oh. Great answer, Halley. You ran like 100 miles into a tropical jungle. _Really_ believable. Of course she didn't believe me but left me alone.

"Are you Percy's sister?" I asked randomly.

She grinned at me.

"Yep, I'm that Seaweed brain's sis. So you're the new camper? Sorry I wasn't there to greet you. Got some archery lessons from Will." She explained.

We chatted for a while, but it was kind of frustrating not being able to stand up. I learnt that when she grew up, her mom neglected her for her older sister Tetra, who was a spoiled brat. Then Clara ran away, and met Zertyr, another child of Poseidon. He trained her, but just as she was fully trained, hellhounds killed him. So she was alone in the streets, 10 years old, fending off monsters. She met a witch who gave her a teleportation ring.

"You have a horrible history." I said sadly.

I didn't have that much bad luck. I felt sorry for her, to be abandoned by your family was horrible.

"Hey, Halley." She jolted me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"Why do you think the camp burned down?" She asked.

I closed my eyes. I can picture the flaming camp now. The wildfire spreading, the screams from the camper, the feeling of unbearable heat while the flames lick your arm and you're screaming for help while crying as ashes pile up around you-

"I don't know, though it was on my second day of camp. Was it a coincidence?" I said unsteadily.

She cocked her head and thought about it. For an 11 year old, she was really intelligent.

"I think," She hesitated and looked at me in the eyes. "I think they're after you."

After me? After_ me? _I mean, I guess I'm very talented and a demigod, but come on, does fate have to be so _cruel_? Getting chased by boys is a girl's number one dream. Getting chased by monsters or immortals beings out for your blood? Not so much.

"What do you mean by that-"

I got interrupted by a low growling in the bushes. Clara got out a trident and tossed me a spare dagger. We got into a fighting stance until I saw who we were fighting against. It was a very pink, very angry, very fat pig with wings. I would have laughed if it were not staring at me as if it was saying _I dare you to laugh so I can rip you to shreds._

"The Clazmonian sow! It's practically undefeatable!" Clara yelled.

I started to panic. If I survive this, I am NEVER eating pork again. Maybe I'll go on a pig strike. Wait, then I'll have to stop eating bacon! I love bacon! The pig snorted and looked at me as if it heard my thoughts. Okay, so no bacon, how about ham? As if on cue (or if it was telepathic) it charged at me. I barely sidestepped and slashed at it. It did a funny squealing sound that might have been laughter.

"Here! It wants you! Take this!" Clara screamed.

She tossed me the ring.

"What about you?" I yelled back.

"I'll be fine! I can handle this."

She glowered at the pig. She looked older, holding her trident out, jutting out her chin. I couldn't just leave her. But when the pig charged at me again, I had no choice. But where to go? Home? Camp Half-Blood? I only have a second left. _Oh well. Camp Half-Blood it is. _I felt a sudden gust of wind and a tingly sensation. Then, suddenly, I was standing in the remains of Camp Half-Blood.

Ruins. That's all it is now. Bits of the cabins still remained, but the rest was all ash. The dragon that I saw on top of Half-Blood hill had flown away. At least I hoped. I sat down in a clearing. For some reason, there were trees everywhere. Maybe a last effort from the Demeter cabin? I didn't think much about it. I scavenged the area for something. I found a worn and tattered tent, a lighter, a bit of beef jerky, a Celestial Bronze sword, and a backpack. I set up the tent and found a sleeping bag, but didn't go to sleep. The trees loomed over me like a creepy forest. Well, that was how I got here, alone and scared. I wish I had Clara here, or Percy, or anyone actually. I just need some company. Oh no, I jinxed it. Sooner or later a monster's going to pop up. The barrier didn't seem to be working. I took out my stash of beef jerky. I've always wondered why it was beefy jerky. I mean, it was beef, but it didn't jerk around. It was kind of floppy. Beef floppy is a good name, right? ADHD is always distracting me from what problem I have. Wait, what was the problem again? Damn ADHD. So good yet so bad. I yawned widely, and crawled into my sleeping bag. No harm can come from sleeping, right?

Wrong.

_Running, running, running from that thing. What was that? It was made entirely of mud, whispering, "Come to me, daughter of the sun, and come to me!" I tried to create light. No luck. Anywhere I step the mud would wrap around my feet slowing me down._

"_Daughter of the sun, won't you come, don't you run, daughter of the sun." The mud sang._

_I froze. It was like a siren, I couldn't move._

"_No use running child. Your end is near. You puny demigods will suffer my wrath, and so will my grandchildren the gods, for I am-_


	6. Chapter 6- My great-grandma's a murderer

**Hey guys! I'd like to thank newfoundfantasy for reviewing! It's supposed to be a vague and mysterious story, but I'll try to tighten up some loose ends.**

I woke up with a start. Great, I _just_ had to wake up at the part that reveals the villain's name. But… it was the grandparent of the gods… come on, brains don't fail me now! The parents of the gods were Kronos and Rhea. The parent of Kronos was… Ouranos, the Protegonoi of the sky. And the mother was… Gaea! She was the Protegonoi of the Earth, which explains the mud monster. Mother Earth is trying to kill me, what else is new? And why do we call her mother anyway? She's like my great grandma, and mortals aren't even related to her. She's definitely not the motherly type. I stretched before packing my stuff. I should probably move frequently, or else the monsters would find me. I still don't know why Gaea was particularly interested in me, a daughter of Apollo who was just trying to get into her head that gods were real. I searched my pocket for the teleportation ring. Nothing. I started to panic. What if I lost it? Oh, Clara will be so mad!

"Looking for something?"

I turned around and saw Clara grinning, tossing the teleportation ring in the air and catching it again.

"Clara!" I yelled.

I ran to her and hugged her.

"Glad to know I was missed." She said mockingly.

"Think again." I shot back.

Really, I was glad to see her. She was the only friend I'd had for more than a day (which is sad if you think about it) and I already trusted her with my life. She just had that effect, I guess. Besides, she knows more about this business than I do. She could help me understand some things.

"How'd you get here?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I had all night. Besides, I had a feeling you'd come here."

But I was no longer listening as I was looking at the horde of monsters storming up the hill.

"Um, let's talk about this somewhere else."

She looked at the monsters.

"Good idea."

She grabbed my hand and we disappeared leaving a large group of monsters really confused.

"Uh…"

I sat up; my head all fuzzy like how I landed in that jungle. I looked beside me to see a dazed Clara looking around.

"Where are we?" She asked.

I stared at her.

"Weren't you the one to teleport us to this… um… abandoned town?"  
The town was more like a rundown little village. There were some tourist shops, and restaurants but they were all in bad shape. They looked like Camp Half-Blood- burnt and charred at places but bits still standing.

"Well, I've never tried to teleport two people before." She said worriedly.

Oh well, that's great to know that we are lost in… what country are we in anyway? Uh, my life is so messed up. It's like life trying to say _this is what you get for being a demigod. Never take normal for granted. _I sighed in frustration.

"What? I don't have to do everything here!" Clara snapped.

Whoa, looks like she's temperamental. She doesn't seem too open with her feelings either. I should make that a goal to get her to open up to me.

"Okay, just cool down. We need to make a plan to…"

Wait, I didn't even know why I'm running. I have absolutely no purpose running across the world for nothing. This demigod business is harder than it looks. Not that it actually looks easy.

I continued. "I found out that Gaea is after me."

She gasped. Yeah, I know, big shocker. I'm getting chased by the Earth. But no big deal, I'll just keep running! This optimistic side of me isn't really working, is it? I didn't think so. I just had to keep thinking a step ahead. I still had my backpack so I set up the tent, while I gave both of us some beef jerky. Still no idea about the 'jerky' bit, of course. We nibbled it in silence.

"Clara," I started slowly, "do you know why Gaea's chasing me?"

She looked at the Earth in fear as if it could hear us. Which, of course, she could.

"Look, there was a prophecy a few weeks ago. It concerned the Apollo cabin. Chiron only told me, Percy, Annabeth (daughter of Athena), and Will."

"What was it?"

"_Daughter of the light of day,_

_Leaving the raging Earth in her wake,_

_Shall put her back into eternal slumber,_

_Or be killed in a fit of slaughter._

_Earth and Sun shall clash in the Night,_

_One to be victorious in the fight."_

Wow, wasn't the Oracle a happy ray of sunshine? I heard that the Oracle was in the body of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a mortal with the Sight. They said that prophecies usually didn't mean what they seemed, but this one was like- _fail or die, it's up to you!_ That didn't help my nerves.

"But why me? I mean, there are other daughters of Apollo."

"This prophecy was made 2 weeks ago. In that period of time, you are the only daughter of Apollo to be claimed."

Oh thanks Apollo. Couldn't you make another daughter in that period of time? You are a god, for god's sake! Wait, that didn't come out right.  
"So… I have to put Gaea back to sleep? What does that mean?"

"Gaea has been said to be awakening. Until now, though, we had had no solid proof." She explained.

Oh well that cleared it up. If you can't tell I was sarcastic there.

"What about the third line?" I asked. It was actually obvious, but I did NOT want to find out if that is going to happen.

She gave me the _are-you-serious? _look.

"I think you know what that means."

Yeah, I do. I just didn't want to admit it. We stayed there for quite a long time, discussing the prophecy. Then it was night and I took first watch. You never know what's coming.

I jerked up at the sound of snapping twigs. I flicked the lighter I found and scanned the area. Nothing to be found except darkness. I stretched a bit before going back to my position. There had been no activity for a long time, and I was going to wake up Clara for her shift when I heard it again. _Snap!_ I readied my sword and shook Clara gently.

"Wake up!" I hissed.

She protested sleepily until I whacked on the head hard. She jolted up but I put a finger to my lips. She got her trident out, water silently swirling around her. I also got my hands ready in case I needed to shoot killer beams of light. We locked eyes and she nodded. I put up 3 fingers.

_Snap! _It's now or never. Actually, I would've preferred never but right now we don't have a choice. 2 fingers. 1. We sprung silently from our tent, ambushing whoever was there.

"Whoa there! Guys, it's me, Percy!"

I looked up to see sea-green eyes staring back at me. He looked a bit beaten up, his clothes torn and his jet black hair cut in some parts. Other than that he looked good for someone who's been wandering alone for 2 days.

"How did you get here?" Clara asked suspiciously.

He grinned.

"Wouldn't you like to know, lil' sis."

I hit him on the head.

"Just tell us!" I said.

"Whoa, no need to get pushy. Well, I got chased by a hellhound, then jumped in the sea and got a lift from a hippocampi, then ran into a forest, got lost and attacked, then saw a town and here it is!"

Well that was an unnecessary journey.

"We just used her ring." I said simply.

He pouted.

"Girls never play fair! Do you know how tired I am just standing here?" He said frustrated.

I laughed but I was really tired inside. Clara noticed this and told me and Percy to get to sleep. I closed my eyes, wishing for a dreamless sleep. But of course, I just couldn't get a peaceful sleep, could I?

_I was floating aimlessly in space. This was actually relaxing, until the three old ladies showed up. The Fates, someone whispered in my mind. _

"_We are here to show you what will happen if you fail, Halley Johnson." They spoke as one. The middle one reached out and grabbed my hand. I screamed as I saw terrifying images enter my head. Chiron bleeding, dying on the ground. Percy and Clara, running, screaming at me o help them get away from something, but I couldn't move. I was stuck. The thing came closer, and closer, until I was sucked into another vision. Everyone I cared about or met, dying._

"_Stop! Please, I won't fail, I promise!" I screamed helplessly._

_They stopped and I dropped to my knees, tears rolling freely down my face._

"_No, that won't really happen, will it?" I asked, my body trembling._

_They seemed to have a silent conversation._

"_We bid you farewell, Daughter of Light."_

I woke up beaded with sweat. It was still night, the visions I saw still haunting my memories. I lay back down. Before I knew it, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7- We meet Queen Jerk-face

**Sorry for the wait guys. I had my laptop broken! Well, what can you expect? Anyway, as usual I have to thank someone. Today it's TheAvidReader! Congratulations! On to the story that you all deserve for this long wait…**

"Halley, wake up!"

I groaned and shifted my back towards the voice.

"Halley, your pants are on fire!"

"AHHHHH! MY POOR PANTS!" I screamed.

I glared at the Poseidon children as they were cracking up.

"You should have seen your face! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I yelled and charged at then, and soon we were in an all out fight, me bursting light at random moments and the both of them spraying water everywhere. We all laughed maniacally (our sanity decided to leave us at that point), making it rain (Percy), transporting randomly from outside the tent to inside (Clara), and nearly burning the tent down (me). It was the most fun and happy moment of my life (which, again, is sad; my happiest moment of my life is fighting with two weirdoes in the middle of Zeus-knows-where and running away from my murderous great- grandma. My life is _so_ messed up right now.) turned my attention back to the fight when suddenly we all tensed. Demigod instincts were always right, and if I follow my instincts, it tells me that there's danger lurking just behind that bush. Getting closer now.

Closer.

Too close.

Then suddenly I was falling into the Earth.

I woke up for the third time in an unknown place. I was used to this already, so I didn't to anything stupid like yell "Here I am!" or "Gaea, help me!" Instead, I did something more stupid, if possible- I accidentally jumped into quicksand. Well, I'm making the Oscars award for 'best accidental suicide!' The quicksand was up to my waist, and I was sinking, fast. My throat clogged up in fear, and I began to thrash about.

"Help!" I screamed helplessly (bad pun, I know.)

"Halley?" A voice called.

I was ready to cry in relief. It was Percy, his jet black hair peeking over the sand mound.

"Percy, can you help? I'm a little… stuck."

He laughed a bit when he saw my predicament. Oh boys. He handed me a hand (I am just full of bad puns) and he grunted, trying to pull me out. I wasn't sure if he was exaggerating or not. I mean, I'm not that heavy. Am I? I must be gaining weight. But I just love bacon. _Shlock!_ Uh, that sound was _disgusting! _We landed hard on top of each other. I was aware of his breath on my cheek.

"Ohm…" I managed to say, my cheeks bright red.

"Hey! You guys?"

"Clara!" I breathed, relieved to break the awkward tension.

We had a sentimental moment for a few seconds, when we got back to the problem at hand.

"Where are we?"

Ah, the classic question. The simplest of almost all questions to answer. The hardest one that I ask constantly. The world is full of irony. Suddenly I felt something slimy drip onto my shoulder.

"EWWW!" I shrieked.

I jumped around like a leprechaun, desperately whacking my shoulder. Percy and Clara were trying to stifle their laughter. Key word being _trying. _

"What is this stuff?" I asked aloud.

We peered closer at the slimy substance that I flicked to the ground. It was gooey, like slime but it was bubbling. It was a mud grey, and the worst thing of all? It was _moving._ Towards me of all people. I kicked it experimentally and it lunged.

"AHHHH!" I shrieked again- except this I was horrified instead of just plain old scared. This time Percy and Clara tried to help me to no avail. This thing was like superglue.

"_Foolish girl. You think you can take me on? You can not even take on my little morsel of my power." _A woman's voice chuckled, her voice echoing throughout the underground cave.

"Gaea." They whispered simultaneously.

The chuckle turned into a menacing laugh, and my bones began to vibrate from the power in her voice. Then I realized it wasn't me who was trembling.

"Earthquake!" Clara yelled uselessly.

We hit the floor, shielding our heads. Clara grabbed my arm. I was about to shake her off, until I realize what she was doing.

"I think if we all think of the same place, it will work! Think of Farer Street! On 3! One, two, three!"

We arrived in the middle of Farer Street. This is, sadly, the road. Drivers yelled things at us as they swerved around us. Why they weren't surprised by us popping right on the road I wasn't sure, but whatever it was, I was glad the police didn't come to investigate 3 kids teleporting here. At least we knew where we were.

"Clara, why did you choose here?" I asked her.

She looked down, her caramel hair blown gently by the breeze.

"I used to live here. This is where my mom is," she finally admitted.

Wow, the courage she's shown so far made me doubt whether she was really 11, but now- I was pretty sure she was braver than everyone I'd ever met put together, including me and Percy.

"We don't need to stay here. Percy has a house, right?" I asked.

I knew I couldn't use my house because police would be there, but I thought Percy might be on better terms with his mom.

"Sorry, my mom's on a vacation with Paul and they're renovating my apartment." He said.

Great, now we have to face Clara's demonic parent. I wished the gods would just strike her down, maybe Poseidon?

Clara looked like a ghost when she said, "I'll knock. They'll recognize me."

Before we could protest, she grabbed a fancy doorknocker and struck it three times. As she did this (she did it very slowly) I took a good look at the house. It looked more like a Victorian mansion, with gold framed windows and elegant patterns. It was very posh, but it looked cold and empty. I bet they didn't use half of the rooms.

"Who is it?" Someone sang from the inside.

"Clara Annaliese Gray, ma'am."

Whoa, her mom made her use formal greetings? The world she lives in… The door opened and out came a slender woman, with a white fur coat wrapped around her (even in summer; famous people are so weird). Her chocolate brown hair was in curly waves, and she put a lot of eye shadow around her black eyes. She wore way too much make up everywhere!

"Clara! Where have you run off to! You know how worried we were! You look horrible! And you brought peasants-" What is this, the 14th century? "-with you, what a disgrace! Get changed quickly! You never see your sister Tetra like this, do you? Try to be more like her, or I'll ban you for good!"

Wow, now I see why Clara ran away. I mean, she had been gone for over a year, and all here mom does is fuss about how great here older sister was and how she should be like her. Not to mention, she called me a peasant! Oh, she is _so_ going to get it…

"Tetra! Oh Tetra darling, lunch is ready!"

Lunch? How long had we been unconscious?

"Coming mother!"

Tetra came down the winding staircase. She was a spitting image of her mom, except Tetra had way more make-up. She looked like a Barbie doll that went through a make up store and was shopaholic. She smiled at me, a smile which I retaliated with a glare. She winked flirtatiously at Percy, and I felt anger boil up in me for no reason. Then when she saw Clara, her face contorted to a sneer, which suits her perfectly.

"Look, the vermin's back. Have you come to beg for forgiveness? Because look at you, you're look like a freak!" She growled.

Percy stood in front of her protectively.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" He yelled.

"Sister?" Tetra blinked flirtatiously. "How can a dumpster girl like you get this hottie as a brother?"

"Don't touch him!" I yelled, outraged. How dare she flirt with him! He was mine! Wait, what? Since when was he mine? Oh, this is so confusing…

"And who are you?" She looked at me, disgusted.

I stepped forward and said proudly, "I'm Halley. You must be the annoying brat Tetra? Yes, I can see why anyone would see that."

She glared at me as if she didn't ever hear that before. Jeez, are these people blind? She's the most repulsive thing I've ever seen! And from a demigod, that means a lot.

"Tetra darling, here's your favorite!" Clara's mom walked towards us with a tray in her hands. I smelt fresh, crisp bacon- my favorite! There were also scrambled eggs on the tray. Looks more like breakfast than lunch, but who cares! As long as I steal or get the bacon, I'm fine.

"And here's for you lot," she spat, as if she couldn't stand to say our names.

In her hand were three cups of- was that water? And three plates of something that looked like a cross between a shoe, and dog fur.

"That's eel stew. Your favorite, right Clara?"

Clara scowled, but held her tongue. I wanted to explode at Clara's mom. She was so… so cruel! Feeding me eel stew while giving the queen of the jerks the bacon! Its torture watching her eat it.

"Now Tetra, don't eat too fast, remember there's still a second course!"

Second course! What was she, royalty? Ms. Gray came back with a plateful of spaghetti. The smell wafted towards us and made my stomach rumble. I had taken a bite out of the stew, and that stuff is nastier than Gaea toenail. Which is nasty enough, believe me. Then Tetra got fed a third course, which was salad. By then, I was too hungry to care if the stew was gross. I could've eaten my shoe, I was starving! I silently cursed in my head. Why was life so difficult? Suddenly, I heard a sound. A faint banging noise was heard again from the kitchen. I drew my sword silently; not caring is the mortals saw it. The others did the same. As we advanced, Clara held up three fingers. As she put the last one down, we smashed through the door. A hellhound stared at us. It was huge, probably the size of Tetra's ego, and its glowing red eyes were concentrated on me. It lunged suddenly and it was all I could do to dodge. I brought my sword in a deadly arc to its neck just as it pounced, and it barely missed. It clawed at my skin and I started seeing black splotches.

"Halley!" I heard someone scream, but the last thought I had before blacking out was _Here we go again!_

Hal


	8. Chapter 8- The Heracles Hotel

**Thanks to all the people who viewed or read my stories! You guys just made my day suck less. Thanks to all you devoted readers!**

I woke up in a hotel.

Ok, that sentence frightened me. The first thing you learn as a demigod is that your life is dangerous. The second thing is that if you wake up and find yourself in a hotel, run and scream "HELP!" But I didn't do that, of course. I'm not _that _stupid. Well, maybe jumping into quicksand wasn't my brightest idea. Hey, I was no daughter of Athena.

"Halley, you're up!" A girl's voice squeaked.

I sat up to see Clara, grinning widely.

"Don't you just love this hotel? It's so fancy!" She exclaimed.

I had to admit, it did look pretty good. There was gold lining the walls and windows, which was crafted into beautiful golden suns. The curtains were an ocean green, with seashells embedded on them. The floor was covered in a fur carpet, which was as soft as silk. When, I looked down, I saw I was lying on an extravagant bed, with white silk sheets and golden bedding. The pillows were in perfect shape, like I hadn't slept here at all!

"Wow," I said, my breath taken away.

"Where are we?"

We asked this question a lot now it's kind of getting annoying.

"It's called Το Ξενοδοχείο Ηρακλής," She said.

"The Heracles Hotel," I translated automatically.

I was quite surprised I managed to translate that, but I remembered Percy said in camp that my dyslexia helped me read Ancient Greek. That now seemed like a million years ago.

"Oh yeah, where's Percy?"

I can't believe I forgot about him. I also don't know why I got so angry when Tetra flirted with him…

"Who said my name? Oh Halley, you're up!"

Percy strode into the room, his sea-green eyes twinkling with happiness.

"Don't you just love this place? They've got cheeseburgers! I brought you guys one." He yelled happily.

He gave us our burgers and I have to say, they were delicious! It was much better than mortal food.

I munched on my food and said, "So… how did we get here?"

They cocked their heads thoughtfully.

"Well… it sort of just appeared right in front of us. One minute it was green grass, the next a huge hotel appears out of nowhere. It surprised us at first, and we were suspicious, but the manager was a son of Demeter and said that this hotel was built specifically for demigods to not get eaten by monsters. You passed out for 3 days, by the way. You missed the cotillion."

"The what?"

"The cotillion is a type of formal dance." Clara cut in. "You should have seen Percy dancing. He looked like a frog in a blender!"

We laughed at Percy's discomfort. I haven't felt this light-hearted since that fight at the tent. That wasn't actually that long ago, but it seemed like a millennia to me.

"Hello? Do you want anything?"

I looked at the door to see a little boy, maybe five, clutching a small teddy bear. He was dressed like a waiter, but he seemed to glow with happiness.

"Who are you?" I asked him politely.

"I'm Dean, ma'am. Your half-brother." He replied.

I don't have a half-brother. What was he talking about? Oh, he meant the godly side. Wait, if Apollo was Zeus' son, Zeus' brother is Poseidon. And Poseidon's kids are Percy and Clara. That means… they're my Uncle and Aunt? That's just weird. But in a demigod's perspective, it's normal when you learn that your 2 best friends (1 who's younger than you) are your uncle and aunt on your godly father's side. That's perfectly normal.

"Dean, you work for the hotel?" Clara asked.

"Oh yes, but I am grateful that they have taken me in. I would work for them forever!"

Aw, he's so cute! Oh no, I'm acting like an Aphrodite girl! Apparently, Clara also has 'Aphrodite-is' because she squealed and pinched his cheeks.

"Aw, you're so cute!"

Percy snickered and coughed. Clara and I glared at him and he rolled his eyes, muttering something about evil demonic girls with no sense of humor. Excuse me; I had a lot of humor! One time, I set me friend's pants on fire because he lied! Okay, that makes me sound crazy.

"Well, anyway, Dean, we don't need anything. Though thank you fro checking up on us." I said.

He smiled radiantly and I couldn't resist the urge to smile back. I could see Clara looked confused for a second but then her face cleared.

"You know the Sun Glow?" She asked him.

"Yes," He replied, "my mother had me learn it. It's good for the customers."

He turned and left abruptly. I turned to Clara and said,

"What is the sun glow? Is it like sunscreen?"

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, it's and ability only children of Apollo develop. You have a sunny aura and everyone around you will be happy if you're just in the room. Although his one wasn't quite fully developed, it was good for a 5 year old." She explained.

Well that's a cool power. I could be all like "Cheer up!" And suddenly everyone would be smiling. Yeah, that's helpful… ish. Who cares, powers are cool… Except when they go haywire and hurt someone…

"Halley? Hello, Earth to Halley?" Percy said, interrupting my train of thought.

"Don't use that expression when I'm going to _fight_ the Earth," I grumbled.

They laughed and sooner or later I joined in, and then we were just laughing really loud for no reason.

"Monsieur Percy, dinner is ready." A voice called from the door.

"COMING!" Yelled Percy

We laughed as we saw him frantically pulling on his jacket and dashing out the door. We followed him into the dining hall which was just as magnificent as our room. The tables were cluttered with people drinking, eating and chatting, and occasionally someone would show off their skills to someone, and fireworks would explode in the air (Hecate children) arrows whizzing through the air (Apollo children) and plants sprouting out of the ground (Demeter children). We got a table of three and went to the all-you-can-eat buffet. I piled up on waffles, fried rice, bacon (just got to love my bacon), steak and much more. We were all starving, so we revisited the buffet like 10 times. But nobody in the dining hall ate more than Percy I reckon. It was like he was in an eat-all-you-can buffet, wolfing down the dishes. His stomach was like the pit of Tartarus, though not evil. But judging by how he ate, I'm sure that his stomach _is_ Tartarus, to food.

"So," Percy said, his mouth still full of food, "do you like this place?"

"Like it?" I asked incredulously, "I love it! It's has nice décor and fantastic food! Although, we'll have to leave sometime…"

Percy's shoulder slumped and he pouted.

"Can we at least bring the buffet? I'll carry it!" He said pleadingly.

"No, because usually we get chased out of here by monsters. Let's just get out of here while we still have out sanity."

Clara snickered.

"Percy wasn't _born_ with sanity, how can he keep it?"

We laughed at Percy's face, until Clara got creamed by ice cream (the bad puns are back in the house).

"You dare do that, Perseus Jackson?!" Clara snarled, "Take this!"

She threw a piece of T-bone steak at Percy but at the last second he dived behind me, leaving my face the target of the steak. It smacked me hard on the jaw. Clara covered her mouth and I hit her with a burrito.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Percy yelled.

The whole dining hall was in chaos. I got hit in the shoulder by a can of peas (who puts peas in cans) and narrowly dodged a flying missile; also known as the taco. I met Percy fake sobbing on the floor, crying

"I've been shot! Help me!"

I chuckled and helped Percy up, until I got hit in the back by another deadly weapon, more deadly than the taco- the hot dog. I fell, pushing Percy onto the floor, and I landed on top of him like in the underground tunnel.

"Here we are again, huh?" Percy said.

I got up and whacked him on the head.

"Shut up, _seaweed brain._ Clara says that's your nickname right? Well, it suits you perfectly." I smirked.

"Oh you'll pay for that," He growled.

I laughed as I got chased by Percy all around the room. At some point I crashed into Clara, who joined Percy in chasing me with food. They had an unfair advantage, seeing as they kept directing liquid towards me, but I just kept running blindly ahead. I couldn't use my powers as I hadn't completely mastered them yet. I crashed into the walls at some point, but it wasn't that painful.

"Okay guys, I surrender," I said, dropping to my knees.

I was panting and out of breath when they caught up with me. Percy healed some cuts with water and I felt a bit more refreshed when he caught some food and gave it to me. Soon we were all eating in the middle of the food fight. I leaned back against the wall when I felt someone clamp my hands together. I was just about to tell Clara that I wanted to stay a bit longer when I realized it wasn't her. Instead, it was a fat old man.

"Now, don't struggle. This'll only hurt for a little while." He chuckled.

I felt a blow to the side of my head and I blacked out.

"What should we do with her?"

"Our mistress will deal with that daughter of Apollo. But about Perseus Jackson… He's a dangerous enemy. And his sister is powerful too."

"Where are they kept?"

At this point I was aware of the two voices. At first it was like a bad radio connection, but now it was much clearer. I kept my eyes shut to hear more.

"They're in chamber 11. Locked with the finest locks in all of Gaea."

So Percy and Clara are in chamber 11, wherever that is. I kept that piece of information in the back of my mind.

"Wait. She's awake."

Oh Styx, they discovered me. I tried to keep motionless but then one of them poked a needle into my cheek.

"Ow!" I screamed, and then blushed, because I had practically blown my cover.

The two men hovered over me, and then I realized they only had one eye. Oh great, more Cyclops.

"Do not try to fool us, daughter of Apollo."

His voice was melancholy and low, and it made me a bit sad for these monsters. Maybe they just had to follow Gaea's orders or risk getting killed. I tried to stand up when I realized I was bound to a chair. No wonder my neck was so stiff.

"Come on, I know you don't want to be on Gaea's side! Join the demigods and we swear not to kill another Cyclops unless they attack us!" I persuaded.

The Cyclops seemed to consider this and scratched his head.

"I'm sorry, but we are bound to our Mistress. She wishes to see you now."

He lifted me of the chair and dragged me to Gaea. I kicked and squirmed and faintly remembered doing this with another Cyclops, the first monster I had fought (but didn't kill).

"We are here," The Cyclops announced in a grave voice.

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe a mud monster, like in my dream. But I did _not_ expect the super evil villain to be an elegant old woman.

"Ah, Halley, you've arrived," she said smoothly.

"What do you want?" I spat.

"Can't an old woman enjoy the pleasures of a conversation?"

You're not an old woman. You're _ancient!_ You're like 10 bazillion years old.

"But we have no time for pleasantries. I am here to discuss business."

"What business?" I asked shrewdly.

"Simple. You die, and I let the world live."is H


	9. Chapter 9- The castle on the mountain

**I just realized that the last chapter I did was like, one of the only ones where she didn't pass out at the end. So congratulations to me! Also, sorry for not updating for a long time. Things have gone hectic in school. Luckily it's Sunday, and I had a bit of free time. Here you go!**

_"But we have no time for pleasantries. I am here to discuss business."_

_"What business?" I asked shrewdly._

_"Simple. You die, and I let the world live._

Anything else I was prepared for. But this? How was anyone going to decide whether to give up their life or watch the world end and know it's their fault? I couldn't bear the shame. What should I do? I wanted Clara here. She always knows what to do.

"How do I know you're not lying?" I worked up the courage to ask.

She laughed, which creeped me out slightly.

"Dear, no need to worry about that. Make your decision quickly, or you'll never see your friends again," she said menacingly.

I stepped back a little. I knew I was the only thing stopping her from destroying the world, so of course I knew she was lying. But she's going to kill my friends. I wish I knew a way out. It's like being trapped in a room with 2 doors. 1 lead to a pool of acid, the other led to safety. But in the pool of acid, your family and friends were drowning. Only you could save them, by jumping into the pool of acid. Or just go to safety and live with the guilt. Then I realized that this analogy was truer than I had intended it to be. Because sometimes, you can survive a pool of acid…

"I… choose to die. But first, I need to see my friends."

She curled her upper lip in distaste. She was obviously contemplating her options- to let me see my friends and possibly escape, or to have me fight her now and have a chance to win. I possibly escaping won, and she led me to Clara and Percy's earth chamber. Let me just say, they looked terrible. I'm not judging or anything, but they looked as if they'd been run over by a million tow trucks towing a million cars behind them. Without the tire marks, of course.

"What did you do to them?" I cried.

She snarled and said, "None of your business. You have seen your friends, now prepare to-"

She was cut off by liters of water flying at her. She barely dodged them all as we ran out, destroying the mud guards along the way. I summoned a ball of light, only to have it extinguish in 2 seconds. I really should have trained more with my powers. Clara was in front, demolishing anything in her way. Percy was at the back drawing water out of the monsters, turning them into solid rock. But it wasn't enough. Soon we were surrounded, with the exit being only a few meters away.

"Oh Styx." I mumbled.

They were drawing closer when Clara started singing. I was about to yell at her that it was not the time, but her voice was like a siren. Enchanting and Mysterious. The mud men started falling unconscious, and she stopped singing and I snapped awake.

"That was the siren's call. It knocks people unconscious." She explained when she saw my confused look.

"Cool!" I said half- heartedly.

Maybe some other time I would have asked her how she had learnt that. But now was not the time. Maybe if I had died, then Gaea would let them all live. Just the thought of them screaming at me, asking me why I didn't take the sacrifice…

"Halley? Hello, anyone in there?"

I shoved Percy's hand away from my face.

"Can't anyone think for a while? Well, I suppose you wouldn't know, you can't even think!" I retorted.

We shot insults back and forth, Clara joining in. I felt content for the first time. I guess a single candle burns brighter in the darkness. Where did that come from? I'm in the middle of a war and I'm thinking of sappy metaphors. I'm losing my mind, if that isn't obvious.

"Hey Halley, do you think Gaea let us go too easily?" Clara asked.

We were trekking up a mountain because the mud monsters were still on our tail and she's saying that?

"Too easily doesn't describe the mud monsters chasing us," I said bluntly.

"No," she said hastily, "I'm just saying she could've done more to keep us back."

I mulled it over in my mind, seeing Percy do the same.

"Maybe she put a tracking device or something on one of us?" Percy suggested.

We looked at him as if he said he loved Gaea.

"You… you said something smart!" we both stuttered.

Percy's eyebrows creased when he realized what we meant and he pouted.

"Hey, I'm smarter than I look," he protested.

We laughed and rolled our eyes. I doubt that anyone could say he was a genius. But I had to admit, he was loyal and a good friend and he did make up some good plans.

"I guess you're not the dumbest person on Earth." I compromised.

Speaking of Earth I realized we were no longer waling on mud and rocks. Instead, smooth marble tiled the ground, leading up the slope to a gleaming castle in the distance.

"What the Hades is that?" Percy asked.

We looked at it for a long time, just considering whether or not to go up. Sadly, we had forgotten about the mud men and they were only a few feet away from us.

"RUN!" I screamed.

We hurtled through trees and bushes, not really caring if it was poison ivy of what not. We just kept running, my legs getting incredibly sore.

"We're nearly there!" Clara yelled over the wind.

Wait, wind? Just a second ago I swear it wasn't windy. Maybe it's the wind gods, um… Aeolus? Yeah, some god was really messing up my day. I panted as I got to the top of the mountain, but both of them hadn't even broken a sweat.

"How," pant, "are you guys not tired?"

It almost took all of my energy to say this. They exchanged glances and laughed. I glared at them with all the energy I could muster; which, unfortunately, wasn't much.

"Training at camp is tough. We do this practically every day." They explained.

We walked in, me still panted like a fish on land. As we strolled across the hall, I noticed there were pictures of the gods hung up on the walls. Zeus was first, his frame lined with gold. Next was Poseidon, lined with silver. I thought Hades was going to be next, but they skipped his picture. All the other gods and goddesses were lined with bronze, their pictures all relating to their realm.

"Whoever this guy is, they must be a god, a demigod, or an abnormally obsessed mortal," I commented.

They both ignored me. Great guys, I'm feeling the love. Clara inspected the pictures more closely.

She said, "The names are written in ancient Greek. Who we're dealing with is no mortal. And did you realize the monsters can't get in? It must be a barrier, like at camp."

I looked around cautiously. One thing you should know about demigods is that we are very cautious around other people. This demigod may have traps of some sort to keep away strangers. And why else would someone live on a mountaintop?

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Percy called.

I wanted to smack him on the head. You don't go announcing to a potential enemy that you're in their house, do you? I guess I was deep in thought, because I stepped in a ring of rope and ended up hanging upside down. Well, at least I was right about the traps.

"Uh, guys? A little help here?"

Clara and Percy turned to see me. Immediately, Percy burst out laughing, while Clara was trying to stifle hers.

"Hey, it could've happened to you," I protested.

They just kept laughing while Clara used her trident to cut me down. I gave them my death glare but they were laughing too hard to care. I was about to chop their heads off when someone said,

"Well, what do we have here? Three meddling demigods?"

We turned slowly to face a man in his thirties, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. His posture was in an attack stance, but his eyes twinkled with hospitality.

"Um, hi… sir. My name's Halley and this is Clara and Percy."

I introduced us to him, breaking the tension a bit. I nudged them a bit to get them to pay attention. He laughed, as if he thought our names were funny.

"Welcome, I am Gavisus, son of Apollo. I take it you are demigods too?" he asked.

Huh, so this guy was my brother. Maybe I'll get my own castle someday. Although I'd much rather prefer the name Halley than Gavisus.

"I'm a daughter of Apollo, and they're children of Poseidon." I replied.

Wow, it seems like I'm doing all the talking here.

"Oh yes, half- sister. Come into the dining room."

Our eyes widened as we thought of food! The substance that keeps us fit. The greasy, delicious food… we ran towards where he was gesturing to and started to shovel food into our mouths. Mmmmm, roast turkey and mashed potatoes…

"Mho memo moo mimedr mum mahr," Percy said, his cheeks bulging with food.

He swallowed then rephrased it.

"So why do you live up here? I mean, live in the mountaintop."

Gavisus cocked his head in thought, but had a frown on his face, as if that was the last question he wanted us to ask.

"Let's not dwell on me," he said hurriedly, "I'm more concerned about the three of you hiking up this big mountain.

We all noticed how he veered the subject to us, but we didn't question it. Maybe he had a terrible past or something that made him come here.

"We were chased by monsters, you know how it is," I said casually.

I was careful to not give away any information about Gaea chasing us, because he might be an enemy, but it wasn't vague enough to be questioned about.

"Ah yes, one of the troubles of being a demigod, eh? But, tell me, what exactly was chasing you?"

I saw Clara's brain racing furiously as she tried to figure the guy out. She seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Chased by a pack of vicious hellhounds." She lied smoothly.

The son of Apollo seemed to be trying to detect the lies. I realized giving away our names and godly parents wasn't the best idea.

"Come, it is late and you must be tired. I have a guest room fit for three people," he said politely.

I followed him warily. Of course, it isn't uncommon when a demigod helps another demigod, but this one was a bit suspicious.

"Whoa," Percy breathed.

_Whoa_ indeed. The floor was covered in a velvet carpet, the walls lined with gold. It reminded me of the Heracles Hotel. Percy immediately crashed onto a bed. Clara and I eyed the beds cautiously. I touched the silk sheets and the linen before sitting on it, ready to spring off. When I felt that it was safe, I lied down stiffly in case it was still a trap. But then music suddenly played, and I felt my heavy eyes closing. But I did get to hear one word that Gavisus said.

"_Ergo._"


	10. Chapter 10- Falling down the rabbit hole

**Hey yo! You guys, I'm back! Isn't that great? I know, I'm so famous. Anyway, I'm thanking TheAvidReader for the millionth time in a row! Thanks for being faithful to me. Well, here you go!**

The light shone through my shut eyelids as I woke up. I know, as a child of Apollo I should like the morning, but really, I'm just thinking why anyone would like such an early time that is known as _morning_. I tried to sit up, but something was restraining me. I realized that I was bound by ropes and started to panic. Where was Gausses? Or was it Gauzes? Oh right, it was Gavisus. So was he the one to tie us down? I glanced around the room and realized we were still in Gavisus' place. I reckon he was working for Gaea, but then why didn't he send us to Gaea yet? I looked out the window and saw that it was nighttime, though I could have sworn there was sunlight before. So he was planning to take us to Gaea but hasn't done it yet. Now I need to get out of here. I looked beside me and saw Percy drooling.

"Percy, wake up!" I whispered.

He just shifted and mumbled something about blue waffles.

"Perseus Jackson you wake up right now!" I hissed.

He still kept on dreaming. I went to my last resort.

"Blue pancakes, get your blue pancakes!" I said as loud as I dared.

Percy bolted up, or would have if he wasn't tied down.

"Pancakes?" He asked like an idiot.

I rolled my eyes.

"Can't you see we're a bit stuck? This isn't the time to be daydreaming about pancakes," I scolded.

He blushed and nodded. I scanned my surroundings. As far as I could tell, there wasn't anything remotely sharp in this room. Gavisus is smart, I'll give him that. I reached for my dagger but all I felt was an empty pocket. I saw Percy checking his pockets for his sword. Luckily we both had long enough arms to reach our pockets.

"He took Riptide! I swear, when I get my hands on him…"

He cursed with a very colorful vocabulary in Ancient Greek.

"Who took Riptide? Is that even possible? It always returns to your pocket, right?"

My heart jumped and I turned my head to see Clara. Percy just continued the conversation.

"I don't know… Wait, he cut out my pockets!" Percy exclaimed.

Gavisus is more intelligent than I thought, which is bad.

"Clara! Got any sharp things?" I asked.

She looked around and glanced at her pockets.

"Nope. There's not even water around here! Can you imagine…"

Uh oh. No way to get out of this one. I could try to use my powers… I scrunched up my face and imagined a bright light cutting the ropes. Nothing. Oh gods, what do we do?

"Wait, I got it!" Percy yelled triumphantly.

I was getting excited until I saw him gnawing the ropes.

"Um… got any other plans?" Clara asked uneasily.

He glared at us before continuing gnawing the ropes. I silently cursed in my head for the fifth time that day. Why can't my life ever be easy? Then I heard muffled footsteps.

"Clara, sing!" I hissed.

She looked startled until she heard the footsteps too. She launched into a song and I heard two dull thuds. At least she bought us some time.

"Come on, there's got to be a way out!" I muttered.

I was just about to despair when-

"I got it! Ha! Told you it would work!"

We looked at Percy as he held up his bitten ropes.

"Eww, Percy put that away!" I exclaimed, disgusted.

He put on an expression of mock hurt.

"Don't you want to get out?"

We grudgingly agreed as he bit on our ropes. Clara had to sing a few more times but all was well.

I rubbed my wrists as I said, "Come on guys, we gotta go!"

We opened the window and was about to jump through when I heard,

"Ah, there you are."

It's not every day that you find yourself face to face with a goddess. Then again, how many things have we done that we didn't experience every day? I turned around to see a 12 year old girl dressed in silver. She had a bow strapped to her back and her face showed maturity beyond her years. She looked like a normal demigod but her aura was what made me realize that we were talking to a goddess.

"Lady Artemis, what brings you here?" Asked Clara.

She glanced at her approvingly.

"I could always use another Hunter. Perhaps you and Halley would like to join?"

"Um… What's a hunter?" I asked.

She explained, "A Hunter is a girl who has sworn off men. Any type of girl, like a demigod or a mortal. You would be immortal, but you can die in battle. A Hunter of Artemis will help me hunt for evil creatures. Would you like to become a Hunter?"

Hm.. That does seem like a pretty good deal. But to swear off men… Do I really want to give up love?

"Sorry, but no…" I began, but Clara cut me off.

"That isn't the reason you came here, is it Lady Artemis?" She asked politely.

Artemis shook her head.

"No, I need a job to be done."

Percy groaned and I shot him a glare. You can't refuse an offer from a _goddess!_ Especially one that seems to hate men. I was surprised when I saw a smile appear on Artemis' face, but it quickly disappeared.

"You will get a prize, demigods. Something to help you on your quest. You have been wandering aimlessly for quite some time now. I have a map to lead you to your destination."

Well, that seemed like a fair deal. Although what could we do for a goddess?

"Lady Artemis, what is it we exactly have to do?" I asked.

"You must chase a monster that had been bothering me for a long time now. It is one of Gaea's creations. I am unfortunately not allowed to interfere, so you must kill it."

Whoa, kill a monster that has been bothering a goddess? How the Hades are we gonna do that?

Percy looked confused (as usual) and asked, "What type of monster can bother a goddess?"

Artemis' eye twitched and for a moment I was afraid she was going to blast Percy into pieces.

"It is a monster Gaea has created," she explained, "and it has power that we have yet to learn. Zeus has ordered me to hunt it down 2 months ago, yet I have lost half my hunters chasing it. We call it Το κακό Νύχτα.'

"Evil Night," I breathed.

So we were going against a monster that's called Evil Night by the gods. How could this get any worse?

"It prowls at night, and looks like a hellhound, except it's eyes are pure white. He lives in the Temple of Nyx, the primordial of the night. But beware, her temple is heavily guarded by legendary night monsters," Artemis said gravely.

Okay, it just got a whole lot worse.

"You will go east. Take this silver arrow; it will point to the direction of the Temple. I bid you farewell, and good luck."

She disappeared in a flash of light, and I turned away just in time before I disintegrated into ashes.

"Weelll, on that happy note let's get going!" Percy said sarcastically.

I took the silver arrow and it pointed to what I think was east. It's time to start our quest.

We had been trekking through a dense forest for hours, seeing nothing but trees and mud for so long I was going insane. The sunlight filtered through the canopy, but I could barely see in front of me.

"Is it just me, or are we walking in circles?" Percy asked.

We were sitting on an old moly log, overgrown with fungus, and it wasn't very comfortable but it was the only sitting place we could find (except for the floor).

"Uh, is this arrow leading us anywhere?!" Clara exclaimed.

The silver arrow kept pointing towards one direction, into a large oak tree. We tried cutting it down, walking through it (which hurt), and walking around it lots of times. Nothing worked, unfortunately.

"There must be some kind of trigger, or a button," I reasoned.

I furrowed my eyebrows and walked slowly around the tree, tracing my palm against the bark of the oak tree. I felt the coarse bark touch my hand gently, until suddenly my hand went through a soft spot.

"Whoa!" I cried as I fell through the tree.

The darkness engulfed me as I crashed through the bark, the cries I heard from Clara and Percy fading as I fell. I braced myself for the impact that didn't come.

"It's like Alice in Wonderland," I thought aloud.

I fell for what seemed like an eternity. On the way down, I saw some weird things fall with me. The arrow was clutched tightly in my hand, gleaming and casting some light around the pit. I saw a couple of plants fall, along with a pot and a clay vase. I didn't figure out what that meant. I thought back to the beginning of my day, when Gavisus strapped us down to our beds. I doubted his real name was Gavisus. I remember faintly that he said a word before I fell asleep. _Ergo_. That's it! He's Procrustes (Is that how you spell it?), the guy who tried to kill Theseus by being way too nice. Kindness can overlap into insanity sometimes. This fall helped clear my thoughts a bit, but now I was worrying about hitting the bottom. How many people could survive a fall this big? I couldn't, that's for sure. I really hoped this was like Alice's rabbit hole; I would at least come out alive. I saw the ground drawing closer and shielded my head. I hoped with all my heart I could make it out alive. At least Clara and Percy are still up there. Wait; what if they came after me? As if to answer my worst fears, someone- or something- grabbed onto me.

"Hey, it's us, Percy and Clara!" Clara exclaimed.

I felt elated and worried at the same time. On one hand, I was touched that they would go at such lengths to save me. On the other hand, their heroic and bold actions would probably get us all killed.

"Guys, you shouldn't be here! This is a really long drop, you're going to die!" I yelled over the howling winds.

I turned to face them, my face set. Unfortunately, they were just as stubborn. It's a demigod habit, I suppose, to never give up even to your friends.

"It was foretold in the prophecy that _you_ had to defeat Gaea," Percy said, "If you died we would rather die with you than die at the hands of Gaea."

I was contemplating on whether I should go under them to spare them the impact; but when I looked down, I realized there was barely enough time to yell at them to watch out. Time slowed down as I stared at our doom; we were going closer to it every second. Thoughts whirled in my head, and there were voices screaming. I think that was us, but I wasn't sure.

"Hold on to something!" Someone screamed.

I faintly remembered someone linking arms with me, as we pummeled through the darkness. My hands clawed at the wall trying to make a dent, but nothing worked; we were heading at supersonic speed towards the ground, then-

_CHRASH!_


	11. Chapter 11- Το κακό Νύχτα

**Hello Percy Jackson fans! Sorry I didn't get to post, I was feeling lazy… Anyway, this is for TheAvidReader and Persiana. And by the way, to answer your review TheAvidReader, I think I might have one or two chapters in Clara or Percy's view, though it won't happen soon. That might pop up when Halley gets trapped or something. Also, I would love to pair up Clara with someone! I'll make him in this chapter, but the love will gradually show as Clara begins to trust him. Now on to the story.**

"Oww…"

I peeled my head off the ground. Believe it or not, I'm alive and… uninjured! If you ask me, I think maybe Alice in Wonderland is a true story.

"Halley? Clara?" Percy called.

"Down here!" I yelled.

He hoisted me up, looking around for Clara.

"Clara?" He yelled. He started to freak out a bit.

"Down here, seaweed brain," she hissed.

She stood up as I scanned my surroundings. As you know, I'm very used to waking up somewhere unknown. In fact, that's practically been my whole journey- waking up in weird places. I realized that we didn't have our weapons, ever since Procrustes took it. If we ran into a monster, we're in big trouble. _Scuffle._ I froze. What was that? _Scuffle. _

"Err, guys? Did… did you just hear that?" Percy asked, his tone wavering.

I reached down to where my sword _would_ be if not for some stupid faker whose name starts with 'Procrust' and ends with 'es'. 3 guesses for who that is. Clara had it easy. She could just knock people unconscious with her voice. But if I and Percy were alone… we'd probably die. _Scuffle._ I tensed and was ready to spring when I saw… a rat. I stared at it in disbelief.

"Uh, this place has rats and it smells! Can we go home now?" Percy complained like an Aphrodite girl.

I sighed and said, "Let's get going. Did any of you see the arrow?"

I searched and found it unharmed.

"Come on guys, let's go."

I held up the silver arrow to cast some light. So far, it did look like a sewer, with rats scurrying around and a horrible stench in the air. Seriously, I nearly wanted to throw up. Suddenly, the arrow veered off to the right- heading towards a pipe. I raised my eyebrows at my companions.

"Well guys? We've got some climbing to do!"

The pipe reeked of moldy fungus and stinky 100 year old socks. I coughed and pinched my nose.

"Anyone else's noses dying?" I asked.

Clara looked awfully green and Percy looked like he could eject his lunch… from the mouth, of course. I swear, by the time I get out of here, I'm never going to be able to wash this stench away. Rats scurried across the wet floor, overgrown with moss and fungus.

"What's making that smell in the first place?" Percy asked.

I didn't know, but I'm pretty sure whoever lives in the sewer didn't find out about the art of showering. Or using water in a hygienic way. I just hoped I wasn't stepping in some monster's pee. Then we heard a slight bang and a crash, coming from a hole in the large pipe. We exchanged glances and ran towards the cave-like hole. When we got there, we came upon a guy, about Clara's age, his clothes in tatters and his face haggard. He looked like Percy and Clara when they were being tortured by Gaea- absolutely depressed. His body was bound with tight ropes, his eyes wildly darted around the cave until it rested on us. He was kicking a twig to the side, and I realized he made the banging sounds. I took off the gag in his mouth.

"Quick!" He yelled, "He's going to come back any second now!"

Without thinking, we untied him. He rubbed his wrists and stretched, and I assumed he had been bound for a long time.

"Who is going to come back?" Clara questioned.

His eyes widened as we heard dull thuds from the pipe.

"He's here," he whispered.

There were thumping noises as the monster entered. He looked like a polar bear, except with claws, fangs, and not to mention the creepy red glowing eyes. Beside me, Clara caught her breath.

"Agrius," she muttered under her breath.

Oh, that guy. I think he was a giant. Uh oh…

"RUN!" I screamed.

We bolted in different directions, me heading back along the pipe. I heard the roar of Agrius as he destroyed everything in his path to find the person who stole his lunch (I think). At some point I crashed into the boy that we just set free.

"Its weakness is its eyes! Stab him in the eyes!" He whispered.

I nodded my thank you and took off, grabbing a sharp piece or rock on the ground. I steadily crept up on him while he was trying to destroy Clara, who was fending him off pretty well by herself. There was no sign of Percy. I circled around him, trying to see a moment of hesitation. I got the perfect opportunity when Clara levitated the sewer water and splashed his face (I would have been celebrating if the smell hadn't gone 1000 times worse). I screamed something along the lines of "Go take a shower!" and threw the rock with dead accuracy into its eye. He burst into piles of dust.

"Eww…" I said, disgusted, as the eye rolled down at my feet. It was oozing some sort of slime.

"That's disgusting!" Clara said, horrified.

Right then Percy decided to show up. He looked at the eyeball weirdly, but his eyes were bright.

"Guys! Check out what I found!" He yelled happily.

We followed Percy into another cave.

"Whoa," Clara breathed.

Whoa indeed. It wasn't because of the marble tiled floor, or the fancy table, but what was on the table…

"Are those cheeseburgers?" the boy asked.

We rushed towards the table, cramming as much food as we could to our mouths.

"I'm so glad you like the food," someone said.

I turned around to face yet another supreme being- Hera.

"Hera, what do you want?" Percy scowled.

I was going to punch him in the face, but I didn't want to look violent in front of the goddess. She cast him a very disapproving look.

"Perseus Jackson, you had better watch your tongue," she said distastefully, "I am here to help you."

Percy rolled his eyes and said, "Sorry, already doing Artemis a favor."

"I am here to give you your weapons."

"Why?" I asked, slightly suspicious.

"Because Apollo and Poseidon begged me and I convinced Zeus to let me come down here."

Well that made sense. I had a sort of fuzzy feeling about my dad caring about me. I didn't like him at first. I mean, he did technically abandon me and my mom. But it felt nice to know that someone was there, looking out for you.

"I can't linger for long," Hera said, "so here are your weapons back. And Percy, I fixed your pockets."

I gladly accepted my sword and swung it, feeling a lot more safer with it. Clara expertly twirled her trident and Percy was ecstatically touching his pockets. Thank the gods for Hera.

"Thanks a lot, Lady Hera," I said, but I found myself talking to air.

"She even gave me a weapon!" The boy exclaimed. Okay, I really have to find out his name before I start calling him 'the boy'.

"By the way, what's your name?" I inquired.

"My name's Thomas and I'm a son of Aphrodite," He said shyly.

Clara introduced, "I'm Clara, this is Halley and this is my brother Percy. We're children of Poseidon and Halley is a daughter of Apollo."

He nodded to us and looked at the arrow in my hand.

"That's supposed to show us the way to the monster Evil Night (Το κακό Νύχτα) that Artemis sent us to find," I explained.

He still looked confused so we had Clara explain everything to him.

"Wow, you guys are really brave," he appraised.

We blushed, but our victory was short lived. The arrow quickly veered to the right and started shaking. Then it jerked to the left and spun around crazily.

"What the Hades is happening to it?" Percy exclaimed.

It leapt off my hand and spun on the ground.

"What do you think it means?" Clara asked.

My head gears started to turn (they weren't working before because I was too near Percy) and I slowly pieced it together. If the arrow could locate the exact position of the monster… And it was jerking around now… I remembered when the arrow just veered off to the left. So that meant…

"The monster's here, and its very close, but the arrow can't pinpoint where because it's probably circling us!" Clara said before I could.

We looked around very nervously and caught our breaths. The monster was somewhere here. _But where is it? _Then, we tensed as we heard a growl. It was low, like the monster that Artemis described. The arrow was now getting sucked into the ground, like it was trying to get out. Then all of a sudden it burst into a white-hot searing light, blinding us all. When we could open our eyes, it was gone.

"Um… where did the arrow go?" Percy asked, confused as normal.

We didn't get time to answer as we were face to face with a sleek night-black wolf, with two snow-white eyes.

_Το κακό Νύχτα__._


	12. Chapter 12- WHY ME!

**Guys, I just realized some of the things that I typed up didn't correspond with the things I wrote in previous chapters, like the Temple of Nyx thing or the legendary night monsters that guarded them. I'll just make an excuse in this chapter. Enjoy!**

We didn't get time to answer as we were face to face with a sleek night-black wolf, with two snow-white eyes.

_Το κακό Νύχτα._

I immediately stumbled back in shock, reaching for my sword with trembling hands. Artemis did say that Evil Night was huge, but this- this _thing_ was gigantic! And also the fact that it looked like a wolf more than a hellhound- but a _very_ scary wolf. I wonder how Gaea created this monster- probably had to take a whole chunk of Earth from Texas or something. I trembled at the sight of its fangs and nearly wanted to run away, but I wasn't a coward. Well, not that _much_ of a coward. Argh, getting off topic again. I drew my sword silently and hoped to the gods that it didn't sense me do it.

It did.

The monster prowled dangerously close to me, and it spoke in my mind. I know, at first I was like _what? No more sugar for me! _But then I realized that it actually _was _speaking.

Halley Johnson, it snarled, I can't believe such a pathetic weakling like you can stop my Mistress.

Well you better, I thought back, because I'm gonna smash her face into the Earth. Get it? Huh?

I nearly wanted to face-palm. I was joking with the monster that the gods nicknamed Evil Night in Ancient Greek. Go figure. I sincerely wished that it couldn't read all my thoughts, because I was devising a battle plan. 3… 2… 1… I screamed and charged at him wildly. I didn't have enough power, however, and soon I was thrown back and I nearly cracked my head against the rocks. My friends (and Thomas; sorry, he's a bit too much of a stranger to be my friend) charged at once, Clara and Percy simultaneously lifting liters and liters of water. Thomas hacked away, and I have to say, for a son of Aphrodite he was good.

But they weren't good enough.

First one out (besides me which was just plain embarrassing) was Thomas. He made the mistake of glancing at its fangs for a second too long and soon those fangs were in his arm. He crumpled to the ground, his face twisted in agony. I struggled to get up, but I realized I had sprained my ankle. Curse the Fates! Then Percy was knocked out. He was providing a distraction for Clara, but unluckily the monster tackled him to the ground. Clara was left alone to fend off the monster while I stuffed a little ambrosia that I saved in my pocket into my mouth. She was actually faring really well until I accidently did something stupid. Surprised? I hope so, or else you would be saying that I am stupid. Well, I've done some stupid things, but I'm not Percy-stupid. That's right, there's a kind of stupid named after Percy. Clara was about to stab it with her trident when I yelled out in pain because of the healing (curse my stupid big mouth). Clara looked at me for a split second and the monster swatted her aside.

"Uh Oh…" I muttered.

I tested my good foot and it worked just fine, although it still hurt a little. I limped towards the monster and raised my sword silently. Too bad the monster has really good instincts and it blocked with its paw. I danced around the wolf/hellhound, which was difficult because of my foot. I saw Thomas slowly stir from his unconscious state, and I prayed to Apollo that he would wake up. I slashed at its fur but I didn't do any damage, this thing was almost impenetrable- well, I did get a thumb sized cut on it.

"Hey!" I taunted. "Come and get me!"

I sprinted across the cavern, wincing every time I put too much pressure on my ankle. I did a roundhouse kick with my good foot but just ended up with very sore toes. It pounced on me, and I was fearing the end. Its fangs came closer, and….

SPLASH!

Walls of water rained down on Evil Night and Percy swiftly directed it into its eye. I nearly sobbed of relief, I could've hugged him! I got enough strength to stand up and out of the corner of my eye I saw Percy tending to Clara and Thomas sitting up. Help was on the way soon, I hope.

_WHAM!_

Guess who just got slammed into the wall? That's right. ME. Uh, that thing is indestructible!

"This thing is indestructible!" Percy yelled.

Way to state the obvious, I thought. Well, I guess I did think it too but hey, our thoughts are our source of privacy, right? I hope no one can read my thoughts…

"Guys," Clara (who's now conscious) yelled, "stab his heart all at once!"

We charged, all of us with multiple injuries, and Clara controlled the water to pin it down, and all of us plunged our weapons into its back.

"Why… Why isn't it disintegrating?" Percy panted.

We watched, poised for attack, as _Το κακό Νύχτα_shivered and leaped into the air like a possessed mummy. Its head jerked and it sank into the ground, just like the arrow.

"It must… have some connection to… Gaea," Clara said, breathing heavily.

We all sank to the ground, exhausted from the fight. I very rarely get fatigued, since demigods always at some point run from monsters. I closed my eyes sleepily, but snapped them back open. _No time to fall asleep, _I chided. Wait, I'm talking to myself. Ah well, which demigod isn't crazy?

"Come on guys, let's go!" I said half-heartedly.

Clara furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wasn't this supposed to be the Temple of Nyx? And where are the guardians that protected the monster?"

_We are right here, child._

My first thought as I turned around slowly was, WHY ME? I mean, I didn't do anything wrong to the gods. At least, I hoped I didn't… My eyes nearly ran out of their sockets when I saw the creatures. They were all about Evil Night's size (that's so weird to say) but they seemed less deadly. All were night black, but 1 had white dots on it like stars. If I had to guess, I'd say that was the leader. There were 4 in total, so looks like we have to fight them one-on-one.

_No, daughter of Apollo. _They said at once. Trust me that was really creepy.

_We will put you through trials to test if you are worthy enough to leave the Temple of Nyx._

_Some temple you have, _I thought, looking around the drainage pipe.

Luckily (there's the lucky word again!) they couldn't read my thoughts. Or they were just waiting to kill me later, either one.

"What's our first trial?" Percy asked.

They seemed to laugh at us, hissing at different pitches.

_The Trial of Acceptance. _

I screamed as we were sucked down a hole in the floor, sliding down a rubber tube. I tried to claw at the sides, but the closer I got to the sides, the more my arms couldn't stretch, until I was an inch away with my arms glued to my sides. I banged my head painfully against the rubber. I heard distant screaming but I didn't know where it came from. I looked down, just in time to see the floor rushing towards me.

_Uh Oh…_

I braced myself for the impact that never came. Instead, I opened my eyes to see that I was lying in my bed at home. I smelt the fresh scent of bacon (and as you all know that's my favorite) and I got out of the bed, wondering if this was all part of my concussion when I hit the floor.

"What are you doing up there, growing a beard?" Came a voice from downstairs.

Ha ha, very funny mom. Wait, wasn't she in the Underworld? What if I wasn't really a demigod and that was all a dream?

"Sarah Clark, come down here right now!"

Sarah Clark? My name isn't Sarah Clark! Maybe this was the trial, to spot out the lies. Well, I'm gonna gut whoever thinks my name is Sarah Clark with my- wait, where's my sword? I looked down and realized that I was in Dora the Explorers pajamas. I really hope those monsters aren't watching me wear these ridiculous clothes. I looked in the mirror and nearly fainted. Because that- that couldn't be me! I looked in horror at my reflection. I had flaming red hair in curls, and sky blue eyes with- wait were those _fake eyelashes!?_ Oh my gods, I have to get out of here!

"Sarah Clark, how many times do I have to tell you to stop looking in the mirror?" Someone yelled from behind me.

I turned in horror and looked up at a woman who looked just like me except for her eyes. She had stern green eyes. She must've seen the horror in my eyes because her face softened.

"Oh darling, I didn't mean to frighten you, especially today" she said softly, "come down and get some bacon."

She picked me up really easily for some reason and carried me downstairs. I know, I shouldn't have let her carry me down, but bacon is my weakness okay! As she reached the bottom I saw a man with black hair and my- no, the person I was pretending to be- eyes.

"There you are my perfect little shining star!" He said.

What am I, a three year old?

"Connie, will you go get the cake?" My 'dad' said.

She kissed my cheek (EWWWWWW and before you say anything, technically I was kissed by a complete stranger) and went into what I assumed was the kitchen. The man (I'm NOT gonna call him dad without the quotation marks) looked down at me and caressed my face.

"Sweetie, today I'm going to take you to Disneyland! How would you like that?" He said, obviously thinking that I would love it.

But before I could say 'I'm not your daughter!' my mouth acted on its own accord.

"I would _love _that daddy!" My mouth chirped happily.

I smiled a large grin showing all my teeth while I was thinking _What the Hades is happening?_ I struggled to take control of my body, and finally when I did Connie came back.

"Surprise! And I made this with your favorite- pineapple!"

What is she talking about? I HATE pineapple. Well, I've never really eaten much but if this fruit had pine and apple in its name, then it's not gonna be good. And then that brings me to why I don't like apples… She placed the gigantic birthday cake in front of me. And on the top it had three candles, ready for me to blow out.

"Happy 3rd birthday, Sarah!"

3rd… 3rd birthday? Oh no… no no NO I am NOT 3! I screamed a bit before my mouth clamped shut. Damn, I really need to be in control of my body! I blew the candles out and cheered. I… I didn't know what to do. I just let my body control myself as my brain realized I was stuck in this body forever… Then my body did something I did not see coming. I- my body- took the knife and plunged it into my heart. I screamed in pain and shock and I tumbled through the floor. That's right, THROUGH the floor. I landed with a stinging pain on my hand.

_Good, feel the pain you brought to us!_

I stood up quickly and found myself surrounded by people. Sam, my mom, Percy, Clara, pretty much everyone I knew and cared about.

_Because of you I died! _My mother yelled.

_We shouldn't have trusted you, _my friends said disappointed.

_You mean nothing to me, _Apollo said distastefully.

They kept yelling taunts and insults at me. What kind of sick, cruel test is this? I found myself sobbing. I remembered faintly what the Nyx guardians (cool name, huh?) said. _The Trials of Acceptance, _they had called this 'trial'. So all I had to do was let go and accept…

When I opened my eyes I found myself in a room with a sofa and a bed.

"Hey! You're here! How did your trials go?"

I lifted my head to see Percy there. I remembered his voice in the trials, saying I had betrayed him… I burst into tears again. He pulled me onto the sofa and stroked my hair comfortingly.

"It's ok… You're not there anymore."

I just kept crying into his shirt and eventually I stifled the sobs.

"Hey," he said gently, "get some rest ok? It took you a few more hours than I did to pass the trials. They won't be here anytime soon."

I nodded and leaned on Percy's shoulder, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13- Please do not try at home

**Sorry for the weirdness of my last chapter. It's just that I wrote it really late in the night and some unexplained things there will be explained in this chapter. I want to thank all those readers who have stuck by my side this whole time. This is for you guys! And BTW; Happy Valentines!**

I woke up rather comfortably, snuggled up against Percy. When I saw that I turned bright red and pushed myself away from him. Thank the gods Clara didn't see that.

"Waffles don't touch the blue food coloring!" Percy yelled in his sleep.

I quietly chuckled and scanned the room. I sighed and sat back down on the sofa. After the weird trial, I wasn't sure what I could handle next. I realized in my sleep that the Trials of Acceptance was testing how fast you could accept new situations, bad or good. Uh, that three year old body was so gross! I was going to go back to sleep when Thomas tumbled through the ceiling at the same time as Clara.

"Clara! Thomas!" I yelled ecstatically.

Percy bolted up and smiled sheepishly at us when he saw Clara give him a look.

"Sorry, but a man's got to have beauty sleep, right?"

"You'll need a lot more than sleep to make you beautiful," Thomas smirked.

We laughed at Percy's embarrassment.

"So… Anyone else think that trial was messed up?" I asked.

They all raised their hands.

"It… it was terrible… But I wonder what the next trial will be," Clara said thoughtfully.

As if on cue, a hissing noise entered the room.

_So… You have all survived, _they said distastefully

_Well, now you will enter the second task, the Trial of the Lost!_

They laughed as one and slithered away, leaving us wondering what they meant. I just hoped I didn't have to be a three year old again… I shuddered.

"What do you mean, Trial of-"

But I didn't get to finish my question before I found myself tumbling through darkness.

I opened my eyes. But, I wasn't sure I opened my eyes, so I closed my eyes hoping that I would open them because of reverse phycology. Okay, I know that didn't make any sense at all, but I was afraid I was going blind. Then it hit me. And I mean that literally, as I slammed into a wall. The Trial of the Lost was like a maze I guess, in complete darkness. I felt my way across, even though I was scared of touching something disgusting. What, I am a girl! I really wanted to find a way out. Secretly, I was really afraid of the dark. But I was in NO way telling anyone. Then again, I am a daughter of Apollo, so is it normal to be afraid of the dark? My hand went through the wall. At first I really freaked out, but then I realized it was just another path. I went through it and screamed when I fell through the ground. Okay, rule number 1 of going into a dark maze- CHECK WHERE YOU'RE STEPPING! Actually, that's rule number 2. Rule number 1- ARE YOU STUPID? DON'T GO IN! So, after a while I quieted down. Gods, was this hole ever gonna end? I touched the walls, randomly tracing patterns on the wall. Too bad I couldn't see where I was going, because when I reached the floor I totally panicked, like _oh my gods is there supposed to be something touching my butt? _I brushed myself off after I calmed down and cautiously made my way through the passage. Trust me; it took forever to even take a step forward. At one point, I went on my stomach and crawled through the maze. It was actually pretty effective, that is until it gets really uncomfortable and painful. After lots of run-ins with walls, and stepping on Zeus-knows- what, I reached a door. At least, I think it's a door. It could be a table propped up on the wall, but who cares? I opened the door and went through, only to slam into the wall. What the Hades? First I'm thrust into a maze in pitch blackness, then I fell through a hole, and now there are doors that lead to _walls?_ I really need to find someone before I start going crazy! I felt another door on the right. Or the left. Oh gods, I can't tell the difference!

"Hello! Anyone there?"

I froze. I recognized that voice faintly, it was Thomas.

"Over here!" I yelled, taking out my sword in case.

I heard the thuds of his feet, and his panting.

"Halley! Is that you?" He asked.

"Yeah, next to this door. Don't open it by the way," I warned.

His hand brushed my arm and he clutched onto it, nearly cutting off the blood.

"Hey, you're a daughter of Apollo right? Can you generate light?" Thomas asked.

I face-palmed. So I had been stumbling in the dark all this time when I could've done that! I concentrated really hard on picturing a light bulb. It took forever until a spark appeared, then grew into a ball.

"Yes!" I yelled happily.

I looked around and found myself in a corridor of doors. I opened them experimentally and found that one side had doors leading to walls, and the other lead to different parts of the maze. I raised my eyebrows at Thomas, and he nodded. We went through the door, the light following us like it was possessed. The whole situation was pretty funny, but I was in no condition to laugh about it.

"It shouldn't be hard to find the others. They should see the glowing light orb from miles away," Thomas reasoned.

"You know, for an Aphrodite kid you're pretty smart," I complimented.

He blushed and we decided to wait it out. Chances are that Percy and Clara will find their way here somehow. And I was right.

"Halley, Thomas! You're okay!"

We looked up to see Percy and Clara, both of them looking slightly beat.

Clara saw my face and said, "We were in a trap."

I nodded and we had a sentimental reunion for a while, some of us fake crying as we hugged each other.

"So…" Clara said, breaking the silence, "does anyone know how to get out?"

"We find an exit?" Percy suggested.

I whacked him on the head and we decided to get out of the maze as one group, because splitting up was a really bad idea, especially when I'm the only one that has light. We followed a straight path, with only minor twists and curves. I was about to give up all hope when I saw a tiny pinprick of light.

"Look!" I yelled.

We all ran towards the light (so cliché, I know) and we exited, breathing in the fresh, sweet air.

_Well done, you have passed the Trial. But you will now enter the next one. The Trial of Fear!_

On that happy note, we were whisked away.

"Halley?"

I opened my eyes again and found myself in a dark room, with a door at the far end. I reach for it, but then hear someone call my name again.

"Halley, you're such a disgrace!"

I looked up and saw my mom. She sneered at me.

"I wish you never existed!"

I cowered until her picture changed. It was now a battlefield, and I was leading my side. Wait… I was killing all my friends! I jerked back from the door, and ghosts appeared around me.

_Afraid of the dark. Afraid of betraying everyone. Afraid of being afraid._

The Trial of Fear! That's it; all I need is to walk through that door! I picked myself up and bravely marched through the images that I was afraid was going to happen. But I was greeted with another image. There was me, in the middle facing Gaea. Percy, Clara and Thomas were dead, their bodies scattered.

"Gaea! I won't lose to you!" Picture- me yelled bravely.

"That's what you think," Gaea snarled, and she lunged at me.

With one clean swipe, she killed me.

_Afraid of failure. Afraid of the battle. Afraid of death._

I shook my head and ran through, swiping my hand to dissipate the image. I stopped in front of the last image before the door.

"Percy! What are you doing?" I yelled in the image.

He smiled at me crazily and charged at picture-me. I screamed in horror as I saw my friends all killing me.

_Afraid of betrayal!_

I stood up shakily. I had to brace myself. This wasn't real!

"It could be, you know."

I turned and saw myself facing mud-face herself.

"What do you want Gaea?" I growled.

She laughed and said slowly, "You'll never reach my waking place, even with that pesky goddess to help you."

"Wait," I said confused, "Aren't you here right now?"

"Foolish girl, this is just a mere morsel off my power. Soon, with those pesky gods out of my way, I shall create the 6th age; the age of the Earth!"

I backed away.

"So," I said to stall her, "The creatures of Nyx are working for you?

Gaea grinned evilly.

"Ah, not these ones. Their intentions are pure, and as soon as you prove yourselves they will set you free. But I will wait for you at my waking place, for you will be the key to me success!"

With that, the ground opened up again and I screamed, holding on to the edge.

"They'll save me! Artemis will tell them where I am, and then they'll find me with you!"

Surely the goddess will help us out, right? I mean, we are defeating the gods' enemy.

"I'm not going to take you with me," she snarled, "I'm just going to drop you off with my offspring."

What offspring? But before I could voice my thought aloud, the hole opened wider, and I found myself once again hurtling through blackness.

**This chapter didn't make much sense either, sadly. I think I've lost inspiration. But don't worry! I'll keep writing! By the way, if any of you have an idea of what I could write next, please review or PM me!**


	14. Chapter 14- Halley, or Halley look alike

**So hey guys! Got some constructive criticism and I realized that it was right. So, hopefully this one will be good. Thanks to TheAvidReader for bringing my attention to my mistakes. I must admit, the chapters didn't make sense, even to me. And we all know that's the most terrible thing that can happen! **

Uh… I feel horrible… I opened my eyes to see I was in a big metal cage. What the Hades? Oh right, got kidnapped by Gaea! I can't believe I thought that so casually…

"Ah… So you're awake in time to see your friends fall…"

I tried to sit up but instead groaned loudly. Gods, what did she do to me? I looked down and realized I was bound to the floor.

"What… do you want… with them?" I managed to get out.

"I have realized my mistakes," Gaea said. _Gee, all of them?_ "I should try to eliminate anyone that can help you… Then you'll be defeated."

My eyes widened as I realized what she was going to do.

"NO! No…" I yelled.

She laughed and left me, broken and defeated, on the floor of my cage.

**Clara POV**

The Trial of fear was… terrifying, to put in a word. I understood it was just images, but gods… The monsters had a sick imagination. I reached the door and stepped out. Oh great, it was the same white room that we were in last time.

"Hey, little sis, had fun?"

I glared at Percy for saying _little_ sis. I kicked his butt all the time, and he had the nerve to call me _little?_

"Hey Clara," said Halley.

I saw Thomas there too. Looks like I was the last one… I sat on the white couch.

"So… we can just leave now right, and go to Artemis?" Percy asked.

I shrugged when the voices of the Nyx guardians hissed in the room. How convenient, don't you think?

_Well done, fine heroes. You have succeeded. You are free._

Suddenly we were tumbling down a mountain, which hurt a _lot._ All of us had scratches on … everywhere and Percy fell face-first into what I would think was cow manure. I looked up to see the goddess of the moon.

"Lady Artemis," I said, grabbing the chance to make a nice greeting before Percy messed it up.

"Yes child, I am here to give you the map."

I looked at the others that were busy washing up and didn't notice Artemis. Percy made a face at the poop, while Thomas laughed. Halley, however, remained neutral as if laughing was beneath her. I frowned at this, something definitely was wrong.

"Boys," Artemis said disgusted.

Percy and Thomas looked at her while Halley made a face of… disgust?

We stared at each other, waiting for someone to start talking. Artemis looked as if the silence amused her.

"So… Just give us the map already!" Percy yelled after 5 seconds of awkward silence.

"Have respect for me boy! I have the map right here," She snapped.

Artemis took out a piece of brown weathered paper.

"Follow the yellow line," she explained, "and don't stray off the path."

_As if 4 ADHD kids would listen to that, _I thought.

"Now I must leave, Zeus is getting impatient."

With that she flashed out. I examined the map. The line seemed to be heading east.

"Come on guys, we better go," I said.

We headed to the east until Halley interrupted our silent march.

"We have to go west," Halley insisted.

I frowned and looked at the paper.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's east."

"Its west!"

"East!"

"West!"

"Girls, stop! Clara, let's just go west to see what we find there. West does seem more likely," Percy put in.

"Why?"

"Because… it has cowboys?"

"Oh you're just gonna side up with her aren't you?" I yelled.

I glared at Thomas.

"You with me or them?"

He swallowed nervously and quivered under my death glare.

"Um… Guys, this is stupid, let's just go north!" He suggested.

"NO!" Halley and I yelled.

"Look, you know I'm right because I'm older!"

I can't believe she just said that! Just because someone is older does _not _mean you can order everyone around!

"Listen Halley," I spat, "I don't know what happened to you but we've got to stop this! Let's just agree to go east and get this over with."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance but grudgingly nodded. So that was how we decided to head east.

"This is pointless. I _told_ you guys to go west," Halley complained.

I glared at her. What is her problem!? She was really getting on my nerves. But we had been trekking through a desert-like area, stopping at a few lakes to get drinks.

"Maybe we should go west," Percy recommended.

"Look, I'm sure it's east," I insisted.

The stupid map didn't have any direction so now we were just bickering about it. Great.

"Oh wait, look! There's a mark like on the map!" Thomas exclaimed.

I smirked at Halley.

"See, told you."

She gave me the evil eye.

"Oh please, as if an annoying brat like you could know anything," she stated.

My eye twitched. She was acting like my 'sister', Tetra. And that was definitely not a good thing. I had thought that if she could earn my trust, I could open up a little… Well she completely destroyed that trust.

"What is your problem? I just got something right for Zeus' sake!" I said exasperated.

She grinned evilly.

"Ah demigods, so foolish with their minds all muddled up."

We backed away.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

'Halley' laughed and said, "Want me to show you?"

Suddenly she changed. Her skin paled and she grew fangs, looking scarily like a vampire. Except her legs. One was celestial bronze, the other a donkey's le.

"It's an _empousa!_" I gasped.

Percy clenched his fists. I know he hated one particular empousa, named Kelli. I didn't know the exact details though.

"Ah yes, Perseus Jackson. My mistress will give me a huge reward for this one," she said, "and how about that son of Aphrodite? Not much use. I can dispose of him."

My blood boiled. How dare she even think about hurting my friends!

"You won't get away with that," I snarled.

She cast a glance at me and growled.

"It's that no-good daughter of Poseidon. Let's see if you're really as good as a child of a big three should be!"

The empousa drew a spear and lunged and I barely had enough time to dodge. I took out my trident and started to battle with the empousa. At first, I had thought it was easy since empousai aren't the most dangerous monsters, but she was extremely hard to beat. I looked at the boys, who were drooling at the empousa. I hated asking for help but I couldn't just let myself _die_.

"Guys! A little help here?"

They just kept staring at the monster (that was about to KILL me) dreamily. I got mad and controlled the water in the humid air to splash into their faces.

"What the-? Clara!" Thomas yelled.

About time! They drew their weapons and charged. Even with the three of us combined, she didn't seem to slow down. My eyes narrowed. No empousa could be that good on its own.

"Why is she so hard to defeat?" Percy asked over the sounds of metal on metal.

I focused in on her actions. I realized that the earth was sort of responding to her movements.

I gasped as I said, "She has some of the power from Gaea!"

Unfortunately we hesitated too long and got thrown back. I slammed my head against a tree.

"Percy? Thomas?" I managed to get out.

I stood up and found them beside me.

"Clara, where are we?"

I looked up at the tree with strange markings and looked down at the map.

"It says…" I frowned. "We're extremely close to Gaea's lair."

We sat on a rock as we tried to figure out the mystery that was our lives. We had deduced (I love that word) that Halley was probably captured by Gaea during the trials. The empousa had hit us here to get us closer so we could save Halley and then get beaten by Gaea… Or was Halley the bait and the empousa accidentally hit us here? Or was this all just a coincidence? Questions swirled around her head as she tried to put together the pieces.

"Guys, it's no use just sitting here. We have to get going," Thomas said.

I nodded at him. He was pretty smart.

"Come on guys, let's go!" I said.

Percy grumbled something about stupid little sisters and stood up, and we started moving. An hour later and we still hadn't gotten to Gaea's lair.

"It should be right here!" I yelled in frustration.

Percy looked to the east.

"It is."

There, rising majestically like a castle clad in mud, was where Gaea slept.

And if we don't stop her…

Where Gaea would wake up.

**Finally got to put Clara's POV in there. Hopefully that would be good enough to cover the confusion of the last chapters… okay guys, hope you have a great day! I don't know why I just typed that…**


	15. Chapter 15- Being trapped- my hobby

**Hey Percy Jackson People! Yep, I'm back! Sorry I haven't been updating. I swear on the Styx I'll try to make it up to you! Oh and I realized a mistake in the previous chapter when I wrote 'she' instead of 'I'. Just ignore it! And I just remembered about Percy's Curse of Achilles! Did I make him cut because he's not supposed to be. Thanks to TheAvidReader (do I have to thank them every chapter? They're just such a great reviewer) and Thalia Di Angilo for reviewing! You guys make my day.**

_There, rising majestically like a castle clad in mud, was where Gaea slept._

_And if we don't stop her…_

_Where Gaea would wake up._

**Back to Halley's POV**

Ever had that feeling that something good was about to happen? Like a tug in your gut or a tingly feeling in your arms?

I had that now.

I was getting excited. My friends _were_ going to save me, and I had a feeling that it was going to happen soon. Looks like Gaea failed AGAIN. No surprise there. Speaking of the muddy monster, where was she? Taking a mud bath? Mud related jokes are really lame.

"So, demigod. Care to watch your friends die?"

Oh, she decides to show up now.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

Gaea took out a silvery orb. In it were Clara, Thomas and Percy. Travelling with… me?

"Yes, empousa are good with disguises," Gaea purred.

'I' changed in the orb into a disgusting creature, which I supposed was an empousa. I can't believe something so _ugly _could impersonate me! Gods, I'm going crazy…

The empousa attacked ferociously and I watched in horror as my friends got swatted aside.

"Stop it!" I screamed.

No luck. Only Clara seemed to be attacking, while the boys were drooling after the imposter. Seriously? Clara seemed to sense this and the boys _finally _sprang into action. Then the empousa did something strange. She hit them towards a building that I assumed was this one. What other building is covered in mud and practically in the middle of the desert? I'm willing to bet not many.

"Ha!" I said triumphantly. "You seemed to have overestimated your soldiers!"

That's when I realized… It was a trap! Gods, I was stupid.

"What was the point of sending them here?" I asked.

She smiled a classic 'I-know-something-you-don't' smile and disappeared just as I heard a crashing sound. The door cracked and burst apart.

My friends (not to mention saviors; or dead meat) stood in front of the broken door.

"Guys!" I yelled, relived yet worried at the same time.

They all grinned and rushed forward, all grabbing at the bars of my cage in vain.

"Use your powers!"

Clara and Percy drew water from the mud and formed a giant fist, which pulled the bars from my cage.

"Halley! You look… horrible," Percy said awkwardly.

I punched him in the shoulder as we exchanged stories.

"So," Clara began, "you think this is a trap?"

"I'm sure of it."

Thomas looked around nervously.

"Guys… Where's Gaea?"

I froze. Damn it, I forgot that our enemy was lurking around somewhere, probably ready to pounce on us. I tensed and put on my 'ready-to-attack' face. Even though it helps me concentrate, I rarely use it because one time I showed someone at camp that face and they burst out laughing. Trust me, that was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life.

"Um Halley, you alright? You look like you're about to vomit," Percy remarked.

What the Hades is wrong with my attack face? I sighed and shifted my position so I was facing south. I thought I heard something…

"Gaea, I know you're there!" I said bravely.

Laughter echoed through the tunnel.

"My my, demigods aren't as bright as they used to be. Be ready to face my minions!"

Thousands of monsters poured out, all different shapes and sizes. I thought I saw a hydra and some empousa too, mixed in with dog creatures and those… Hippies? Hammies? Damn, I can remember empousai but I can't remember those chicken ladies? They surrounded us and we went back to back, brandishing our weapons.

"Any ideas?" I asked over the growling of the monsters.

Percy said, "I've got one."

"What?"

"Charge!"

And with that, we rushed into the oncoming horde of monsters.

As soon as we reached the crowd of monsters, I felt cuts and bruises forming all over my body without even knowing who they came from. Or _what_ they came from. I was feeling adrenaline course through my body and I started hacking away with my sword. I flipped over a hellhound, sliced at its feet, then rolled and stabbed at a Cyclops. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clara using her voice to make some monsters unconscious, but there was too much noise. She then took out her trident and made a whirlwind. It was so powerful monsters disintegrated left and right.

Percy was to my left, slashing with his sword riptide that he maneuvered with skill and precision. Sometimes he used powerful jets of water to hit or blind the enemy then attack from behind. The swords didn't cut him as he had the Curse of Achilles (someone explained to me his achievements on my first and last day of camp).

Thomas was in front of me, stabbing monsters. Golden dust covered him from head to toe as he slid under a Hammie. Happie. Oh whatever. He lunged for an empousa while successfully killing a hellhound with one swipe.

Something disarmed me but Percy killed it. I couldn't find my sword so I picked up its weapon, which was a bow, and the quiver of arrows. Of course, as a daughter of Apollo I was naturally gifted at using it, taking down monsters with one shot. Really the only bad thing about it was I had to collect the arrows again.

But it wasn't enough.

We were soon overwhelmed, even when I had made one blast of light (which didn't have the affect I had hoped it would've). Now we were cornered, our backs to a wall.

We were trapped.

I started to hyperventilate, which probably didn't help at all.

"We need a plan," Clara said calmly.

How the Hades was she calm? It's practically impossible for me now!

"How about we find an exit?" Thomas suggested. "We can break out of here instead of trying to kill these monsters."

They seemed to me to be closing in at like, snail speed. What were they waiting for? Or were they trying to let us escape? No, that didn't make sense. Gaea trapped us here only to let us go? One monster lunged at me and grabbed my arm but I shot it and it disintegrated.

"Okay, let's find an exit real quick," I said urgently.

Our eyes scanned the room for any sign of cracks or a secret door.

"There!" Percy hissed.

He pointed to a barely visible line on the floor to our right. No wait; it was a square… a door! We inched there ever so carefully, but the monsters kept coming closer.

"Clara, I want you to sing and blast water. Percy, you can help too. While they're distracted (or unconscious) we can sneak into the door," I said (which is surprising because I usually suck at scheming.

"Three, two, one… NOW!"

Huge blasts of water and a queer tune travelled to the monsters. We took no hesitation in running at top speed to the door, while the monsters were still trying to find out what was going on. We reached it just as they shook of their confusion.

"Open it!" I said, frustrated.

With one mighty heave, we all lifted the top off (there weren't any hinges) and threw it down, accidentally whacking a monster.

"Hurry," Thomas whispered, "they're gaining!"

We took a glance back and jumped down into the dark hatch.

**Hey, it's me. I really need some inspiration. I think I have writer's block. OH, and if you don't understand something, it will be explained in the next chapter. Orangesunset12 is signing off!**


End file.
